Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Science and Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Earth Science; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Space and Atomic Energy, Dr Jitendra Singh today said, the government job mind-set is proving an impediment to Start-Up culture, mainly in North India.

Dr Jitendra Singh gave full credit to the futuristic vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had given a call for "Start-Up India Stand Up India" from the ramparts of Red Fort in his Independence Day address of 2015 that initiated a mass interest, as a result of which the number of Start-Ups in India has increased from mere 350 in 2014 to over 77,000 in 2022 with more than 100 unicorns, while India under Modi has achieved 3rd ranking in the world in the StartUp ecosystem.

Inaugurating the first-of-its-kind Start-Up Expo in Jammu, covering areas of Agriculture, Aroma, Dairy, Pharma, IT, Computer and Communications, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Start-Up culture is yet to fully catch up the imagination of the youth and entrepreneurs in some of the North Indian States, as comparison to some of the South Indian States, which have taken a magnificent lead, engaging also a chain of globally recognised Start-Ups.

He said, it is important to take note of some of the exemplary instances of many young entrepreneurs who are seen quitting their lucrative jobs in the MNCs to establish their own Start-Ups, as these young entrepreneurs are now beginning to realise the possibility of greater fortunes in this.

Dr. Jitendra Singh pointed out that the Start-Up movement in Jammu and Kashmir has been relatively slow, even though the "Purple Revolution" of India was born in J&K and J&K is also the birthplace of the grand Aroma Mission. He hoped that its impact would be realised through the success stories of various Agri-based Start-Ups, besides in the fields of Dairy and Pharma.

Dr Jitendra Singh underlined the contribution of cities like Bengaluru and Chennai for the Start-Up boom in India and said that the innovators, incubators, and entrepreneurs are making a global mark by focussing on areas like 5G, artificial intelligence, drones, semiconductors, Block chain, green energy and Space economy.

The different Ministries and departments headed by him, informed Dr Jitendra Singh, are providing attractive support by way of both financial assistance as well as technical hand-holding and facility to carry the Start-Up products to the market, which also holds a lucrative livelihood opportunity. But unfortunately, particularly in this region, many of the potential beneficiaries are not able to avail of it because the awareness is lacking although all information is available on websites and portals.

Dr Jitendra Singh regretted that even though Start-Up is a very high priority for the Modi Government and urged upon the media persons to put out at least one Start-Up success story a week, to serve the cause of the youth.

Calling for promoting Agri-tech Start-Ups in a big way, the Minister said, Agriculture is one of the important pillars of the Indian economy as 54 percent of the Indian population depends directly on agriculture and it accounts for around 20 percent of GDP. He said, the success story of CSIR promoted Aroma Mission of Lavender cultivation in Jammu and Kashmir needs to be replicated in other States.

The Minister pointed out that a new wave of Agri-tech Start-Ups has emerged in the country in the last few years and these Start-Ups are solving problems related to supply chain management, cooling and refrigeration, seed management and distribution, besides helping farmers to access a wider range of markets. He said, the young entrepreneurs are now quitting their jobs in the IT sector and MNCs to establish their own Start-Ups, as these young entrepreneurs are now beginning to realise that investing in agriculture is one of the very few safe and profitable businesses.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, ‘Kisan Drones’ could be adopted in a big way for promoting crop assessment, digitisation of land records, spraying of insecticides, and nutrients and pointed out that countries like Israel, China and the US have transformed several agriculture practices in their country with the use of technology.

Some of the prominent StartUps that took part in the Expo are- Anmol Shakti Farmer Producer Company Ltd, Fermentech Labs Pvt. Ltd, Marine Gate Incubation Centre (MAGIC), Vrinda Agrifarm Technologies, Vanix Technologies Private Limited, Aroma, Bhaderwah, Urban Air Labs, Pahadi Amrut, Ahuja Engineering Services Pvt Ltd, Genetico Research & Diagnostics, Scanpoint Geomatics Limited, Paradox Sonic space research association (PSSR India), Paradox Sonic space research association (PSSR India), Sengathali Biofiber Private Limited, Earthtech Renewables LLP, Kidaura Innovations Pvt. Ltd., Verdant Impact Private Limited (Earlier known as Starskill Consultancy Private Limited), Scientech Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Himalayan Essential Oils Producer Company Ltd., SRNAS OPC Pvt Ltd, JK Aroma Ltd, Gear Technologies, UBreathe, ESPAL CAN Pvt .ltd, Suraj shreechemicals, Sahil Apiaries and Beehive Products, Kashmir Trout, Yuktika Biotech, Rudra Shakti herbs Pvt Ltd.

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