10 years of Startup India: PM Modi calls on startups to focus on manufacturing, deep technology & global leadership

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday called on Indian startups to focus on manufacturing, deep technology and global leadership, saying the next decade of Startup India must position the country at the forefront of innovation.

At the National Startup Day, which also marked ten years of the flagship Startup India scheme, he said startups are key to shaping India's economic and technological future. He hailed Startup India as a "revolution" and a "rainbow vision" that transformed India into the world's third-largest startup ecosystem, growing to over 2 lakh, including nearly 125 unicorns from less than 500 startups in 2014.

"Today's startups are becoming unicorns. Unicorns are launching their IPOs and creating more jobs. Last year alone, nearly 44,000 new startups were registered. This is the biggest jump in any single year since the launch of Startup India," Modi said.


Modi noted that the last 10 years have proven India's entrepreneurial capabilities and the goal should be to "lead the world in the next 10 years in India's new startup trends and technologies."

Emphasising that risk-taking has become mainstream with startups driving employment, innovation, and global competitiveness, Modi said: "The government is with you in all your efforts. I have faith in your capabilities."

At the same event, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said Indian startups are currently active in over 50 sectors, including deep tech, AI, machine learning and quantum computing.

DPIIT-registered startups have generated an estimated 21 lakh jobs across the country. "Over 50 Startups are being recognised in India per day," Goyal posted on X.

AI, manufacturing

While he acknowledged challenges such as high computing costs, the PM said the India AI Mission is providing solutions with more than 38,000 GPUs onboarded to make big technology accessible to small startups.

"We are also making sure that Indigenous AI should be developed by Indian talents on Indian servers. Similar efforts are being made in semiconductors, data centres, green hydrogen and many other sectors," Modi said.

He asked startups to work on new ideas, solve problems, focus more on manufacturing and make products of the best quality in the world.

He highlighted that Startup India has fostered a new national culture, democratising entrepreneurship and bringing business aspirations to those living in smaller cities, towns and rural villages.

"First, new businesses and new ventures were only brought by children from rich families as they were the ones who got funding. Most of the middle class and poor children were only able to dream of a job. But Startup India has changed this thinking. Now Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and even villages are launching their startups," he said.