Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal chaired the virtual meeting of “National Startup Advisory Council here today. While addressing the meeting, the Minister said that the implementation of ideas of Financing, Mentorship, Taxation, etc. will enable us to strengthen our startup ecosystem further. He said our startup ecosystem is a reflection of our youth’s Energy, Enthusiasm, and Agility and the Startup India movement has brought a ‘change in mindset from ‘can do’ to ‘will do’. 

In his address, he said that our startup ecosystem has the potential & promise to make India the Innovation & Invention hub of the world, and the National Startup Advisory Council on AC has been working tirelessly to pave the way forward for budding Startup Entrepreneurs in India. Shri Goyal said that NSAC will nurture Startups to aim for higher Competitiveness & make India the Startup Capital. He urged that in the 75 weeks of Azadi ke Amrit Mahotsav, NSAC should facilitate 75 startups to become unicorns by the 75th Independence Day. He further added that the Prime Minister’s mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas our Sabka Prayas’ finds resonance with our startups. He said we aim to make ‘Startup India’ a symbol of National Participation & National Consciousness. 

In this age of COVID-19, when everyone is overcoming severe stress, he said that he was happy to see the resilience & ‘never say die spirit of our startup ecosystem. The Minister said the 21st century is the ‘Century of Startups’ & with our Startups it is the ‘Century of India’. He said 21 unicorns in the last 6 months inspire all to Dream Big & Achieve Bigger. With nearly 60 unicorns, India has one of the largest startup stables in the entire world.  

The Minister urges to start a STARTUP revolution, he said with NEP 2020, schools will now sow the seeds of startup ideas at a young age. He said youth are job creators of tomorrow and drivers of innovation & leaders of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Shri Goyal said that he wanted to see new startups emerge across India especially in Tier II & Tier III cities. He said this will catalyze employment generation & strengthen forward & backward linkages.

Shri Goyal asked DPIIT to now act as a ‘Facilitator’ with Open doors, Open Arms & Open Mind. He said that Government is committed to cut red tape, improve Ease of Doing Business provides financial assistance through Startup seed funds, supporting incubators, enhancing skills and this holistic approach has intended to resolve the issues relating to capital mobilization, support innovation with tinkering labs, & meet the capacity & capability requirements of startups. 

He said today, our vision expands beyond the traditional models of growth, we aim to create a New India i.e. an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, and Startups are the key to building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat with Courage, Collaboration & Commitment and to achieve such an ambitious target we need a participative approach from all stakeholders. He said Industry must help create Startup Superstars by identifying innovators & investing in talent. Our aim must be to make our startups grow beyond our geographical boundaries & create a global impact.

The meeting was attended by top stakeholders, officials, and existing start-ups in the country. Some of them include Shri M.R. Kumar, Chairman, LIC; Shri R.S. Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority; Shri Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital; Shri Ritesh Agarwal, Founder, OYO Rooms; Shri Manoj Kohli, Country Head, Softbank India; Shri Abhiraj Bhal, Co-founder, UrbanCompany; Shri Kunal Bahl, Co-founder, Snapdeal; Shri Vineet Aggarwal, President, ASSOCHAM; Shri Sanjeev Bhikchandani, Co-founder, InfoEdge; Shri Mohandas Pai, Co-founder & Chairman, Aarin Capital; Shri Prashant Prakash, Partner, Accel Partners; Smt. Anjali Bansal, Founder, Avaana Capital; Shri Sharad Sharma, Founder, iSpirt; Smt. Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM.