India Is Home To Over 1 Lakh startups: Piyush Goyal

The country has witnessed exponential growth from 450 startups in 2016 to over 1 lakh in 2023, making India the world's third-largest startup ecosystem, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said in New Delhi.

Highlighting the role of youth as the foundation for India's development in the ‘Amrit Kaal’, the Minister exuded confidence that by 2047, India's economy would experience exponential growth.

Goyal underlined the government's commitment to enhancing the ease of doing business in India, making it easier to start and run businesses.

Highlighting the global recognition achieved during India's Presidency of the G20 Summit, Goyal pointed out that the world is increasingly attracted to opportunities available in India and its diversity and economic growth. He emphasized that Indian STEM graduates are a global attraction.

Recently, data highlighting the statewise startup registrations was presented by Som Prakash, Minister of State in the Commerce Ministry, in the Rajya Sabha during the monsoon session. As per the data, in 2022, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi reported the highest number of startup registrations, figuring 4,801, 2,572, and 2,567 respectively.

Under the Startup India initiative, 26,522 new startups were registered in 2022, the data cited. The figures showed a 32.6 per cent jump as compared to 19,989 startup registrations in 2021.

Other than these three states, a significant growth in the startup base was registered in states like Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

Interestingly, as per the first edition of Startup Genome's Scaleup report, India has ranked fourth in the world in the number of scaleups, or startups that have received over USD 50 million of disclosed VC investment. Ahead of India are the US, China, and the UK.

However, it has surpassed the UK in the total VC investment that has gone into these scaleups, and in the cumulative tech value investment of the scaleups. According to the report, India has recorded 429 scaleups, with a VC investment of UDS 127 billion and total value of tech investment of UDS 446 billion.