The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal today called upon the Indian industry to aim for raising 75 unicorns in the 75 weeks to the 75^th anniversary of Independence next year.

“We have added 43 unicorns added in 45 weeks, since the start of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ on 12^th March, 2021. Let us aim for atleast 75 unicorns in this 75 week period to 75^th Anniversary of Independence,” he said, while releasing the NASSCOM Tech Start-up Report 2022.

Shri Goyal said Startup India started a revolution six years ago and today ‘Startup’ has become a common household term. Indian Startups are fast becoming the champions of India Inc’s growth story, he added.

“India has now become the hallmark of a trailblazer & is leaving its mark on global startup landscape. Investments received by Indian startups overshadowed pre-pandemic highs. 2021 will be remembered as the year Indian start-ups delivered on their promise, - fearlessly chasing opportunities across verticals - Edtech, HealthTech & AgriTech amongst others,” he said.

Shri Goyal lauded the ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) industry including the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector for the record Services exports during the last year.

“Services Export for Apr-Dec 2021 reached more than $178 bn despite the Covid19 pandemic when the Travel, Hospitality & Tourism sectors were significantly down,” he said.

Shri Goyal said the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has declared 16^th January as the National Startup Day, showing his commitment to take the innovation culture to every nook and corner of the country.

“We all celebrated this innovation spirit through Startup India Innovation Week, during the last week as part of 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. PM’s interaction with Startups a week ago has supercharged the courage of our innovators,” he said.

Shri Goyal said the Government has taken several steps to boost startup ecosystem, -

• Removing problems of ‘Angel tax’, simplification of tax procedure & allowing self-certification and self-regulation towards which we are moving
• Reducing burden of over 26,500 compliances
• Decriminalization of 770 compliances

Shri Goyal said the New India is today being led by new troika of Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship (ITE), which in a way has grown further from the original ICE (Information, Communication & Entertainment).

“I remember when ICE was introduced many years ago, we were excited about the new information age. Today, that same vibrancy & excitement is witnessed in the way our startups are growing in the ITE areas,” he said.

Shri Goyal said India’s unique digital infrastructure - Aadhaar, Digilocker, Fastag, Cowin, UPI etc. have enabled Access & Affordability.

“The Cowin portal showed the world that Indian could run world’s largest vaccination programme efficiently & effectively, with complete mapping & monitoring done digitally. UPI has helped new age technologies in reaching the common man at affordable prices,” said Shri Goyal.

“The next “UPI moment” will be the ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce). The first-of-its-kind globally, ONDC to enable interoperability between eCommerce companies, providing equal opportunity to small & large players, will help control digital monopolies & make industry more inclusive for buyers & sellers alike, empowering MSMEs to unlock innovation & value,” he added.

Shri Goyal unveiled a five-point plan as the way forward for the NASSCOM:

     1. Emphasize on basic & core needs of people, - providing better access to financial          services, education & healthcare; solutions to problems of farmers, etc.

     2. Focus on High growth & Job creating sectors, - Advertising & Marketing, Prof. services, Fitness & Wellness (Yoga becoming popular globally), Gaming, Sports, Audio-Visual services

     3. More & more startups should leverage Deep tech to build solutions for local & global markets, - AI, IoT, Big Data, Data Analytics, Blockchain, Virtual Reality, 3D Printing, Drones, etc.

     4. We have a lot of potential in Startups from Tier-2 & 3 cities. If we give them more support & proper mentoring, they could also play a much greater in the years to come.

     5. India will assume G20 presidency in 2023 – suggest ideas on themes resonating with our vision to solve global issues.

Shri Goyal hoped this momentum of the Indian Startup ecosystem will continue in the current year and the years to come.

“While 2021 was a year in which we defied all odds, 2022 will be the breakthrough year which will unlock country’s exponential value. ‘India at 100’ will be renowned as a Startup nation. But as PM Modi said yesterday in his speech- the “Amrit Kaal,” the coming 25 years - are the period of utmost hard work, sacrifice and tapasya,” he said.

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DJN/PK