New Delhi:The government is planning to rope in big private companies to help youth to encourage the next generation of tech entrepreneurs in areas like deep technology and artificial intelligence (AI), a top government official said on Wednesday.
“When the ‘Startup India’ initiative was launched by the Prime Minister in 2016, there were around 400 startups in India. Today, there are more than 2 lakh DPIIT-recognized startups in India,” Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Amardeep Singh Bhatia said ahead of National Startup Day on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the main function.
Almost a year after coming to power, PM Modi in his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2015, had talked about promoting grassroots entrepreneurship through the ‘Startup India’ campaign and launched the ‘Startup India’ initiative on January 16, 2016, with the aim of making India a country of job creators rather than job seekers.
According to a statement from DPIIT, startups have created more than 2.1 million jobs.
Bhatia said the next focus of the initiative is to motivate corporates for active engagement with startups to encourage budding entrepreneurs to provide innovative solutions to their businesses and thus develop a cost-effective, mutually beneficial supply chain.
Using AI and deep technology, technopreneurs will create customized solutions and innovative products for large companies and integrate them into the supply chain. This will not only help companies reduce their manufacturing costs but will also create a high-tech ecosystem in the country. He said that DPIIT has signed several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with companies for this cooperation.
Talking about National Startup Day being celebrated on January 16, he said, “We are pushing corporates to deepen their engagement with startups… Companies can outsource problems to startups.”
Explaining the policy effort to create a larger startup ecosystem, DPIIT Joint Secretary Sanjeev said that success lies in the role of the government by simplifying regulations, opening doors to funding, mentorship support, providing platforms like international recognition and most importantly sending a clear message – India believes in its entrepreneurs.
He said, National Startup Day 2026 is especially significant as it marks the completion of 10 years of the Startup India initiative along with the 5th edition of the State Startup Ranking Framework (SRF) and National Startup Awards 5.0 (NSA).
“As we step into the next decade of Startup India, DPIIT is committed to fostering an environment that supports innovation, inclusion and long-term growth,” he said.
According to DPIIT, every Indian startup provides an average of 11 jobs. More than 52.6% of the startups recognized by DPIIT are based in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, it said, adding that the department recognizes around 80 startups every day.