SME Times News Bureau | 10 Jan, 2022
Minister
of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal today called upon
stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem to strive to take India to the
top 25 in the Global Innovation Index.
Our startups are the key reason
behind India’s meteoric rise in Global Innovation Index from 76 in 2014
to 46 in 2021, Goyal said. He was inaugurating ṭhe “Startup India Innovation Week Launch” virtually from New Delhi today.
Expressing his delight at being able to participate in the first ever Startup Innovation launch week, Shri Goyal said that ‘Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem’, as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, was also a call to action for all of us to strengthen our startup ecosystem further.
The
Minister spoke of the need for institutionalizing the Startup Week
Celebrations as an annual event so that we keep reviewing, reinventiing,
rejuvenating and reenergizing our startup ecosystem. He said that there
is a need for developing a futuristic outlook to pave the roadmap of the future while we celebrate our entrepreneurs.
This
virtual week-long innovation celebration aims to commemorate the 75th
year of India’s independence ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and is designed
to showcase the spread and depth of entrepreneurship across India.
The
startup and innovation festival's primary goal is to bring together the
country's key startups, entrepreneurs, investors, incubators, funding
entities, banks, policymakers, and other national and international
stakeholders to celebrate entrepreneurship and promote innovation.
Furthermore, to exchange knowledge on nurturing startup ecosystems; to
develop entrepreneurial ecosystem capacities; to mobilise global and
domestic capital for startup investments; to encourage and inspire the
youth for innovation and entrepreneurship; to provide market access
opportunities to startups; and to showcase high-quality,
high-technology, and frugal innovations from India.
The
Minister emphasized that the event has been organized with whole of
Government approach and in collaboration of 30 Departments. He also
announced that the Participant registration for the Innovation Week had
already crossed 1 lakh.
Shri Goyal noted that this year marked the completion of 6 years of Startup India. The launch of ‘Startup India movement’ by Hon’ble PM in Jan’16, 2016 stirred the entrepreneurial spirit across India, he said.
Terming the startups as the harbingers of change, the Minister said that our startups have changed the mind-set from “Can do” to “Will do”. Startup India, which started as a mission to promote Innovation has today become a revolution of National Participation and National Consciousness, he observed.
Expressing confidence that the Prime Minister’s interaction
with startups on the completion of 6 years of Startup India will
encourage our entrepreneurs to dream big and achieve bigger, Shri Goyal
said that our Startups turned COVID-19 crises into an opportunity and made 2021 the Year of unicorns; with 3rd largest number of Unicorns (82) in the world.
Piyush Goyal called upon entrepreneurs to think of building Startups that focus on Healthifying people at a time when the world is facing successive waves of pandemic.
The Minister said that the New in New India symbolized the freshness of perspective
and ideas that our startups bring. He added that our Startups were
‘Learning Earl, Learning Often, Learning from Experience and Learning
from Others’. He asked innovators to celebrate failure, learn from their
mistakes and turn them into stepping stones to success.
He outlined 3 goals for Indian entrepreneurs, ‘Make in India’, ‘Innovate in India’,
and ‘Mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs’. He also said that
there was a need to make our startups much more resilient so that they
are well prepared to mitigate and overcome crisis situations like the
pandemic.
The
Minister observed that our young entrepreneurs are eager to make
extreme impact and are fearless risk takers. He noted that today, almost
4 startups are recognised in India every hour with 45% belonging to
Tier II & III cities and said that 46% of Startups are found by
Women Entrepreneurs.
Goyal highlighted that the success of IPOs of many startups showcase
their power to become the new Multi-National Corporations. He said that from 2018-21, more than 6 Lakh Jobs have been created by Startups and added that in 2021 alone, more than 2 Lakh jobs have been created.
The Minister said that our Government has been acting as a ‘facilitator’ by
focusing on simplification, facilitation and bringing ease in starting
& doing business.
Listing some measure taken by the Government to
improve Ease of Doing Business, he said that there was an 80% rebate on
patent filing and 50% on trademark filing fees, relaxation in public
procurement norms, Self-Certification under Labour and Environmental
Laws, Funds of Funds for Startups, Income Tax exemption for 3 out of 10
years and Seed Fund Scheme of Rs. 945 Cr. An improved IPR regime has
resulted in the registration of 1.16 million trademarks in last 4 years,
compared to 1.1 million registrations in last 75 years, he added.
Referring
to the proposed Open Network Digital Commerce (ONDC) initiative as a
game changer will help our entrepreneurs to save cost as well as build
trust, Shri Goyal said that ONDC would help bridge the gap between
mighty Corporations and small startups and help bring in equity in the
business ecosystem.
He said that the mantra for startups for further growth is SENSE- Share, Explore, Nurture, Serve and Empower.
He
called upon entrepreneurs to take initiative to share their knowledge,
experience, ideas and mentor others. He asked Startups to explore the
unexplored areas like Rural Tourism in terms of agri-stays, hotels and homestays,
creating additional income for farmers. He encouraged them to nurture
new ideas and constantly try to develop new products.
The Minister also called upon innovators to focus on “Prashasan Gaon Ki Aur”, ideas to improve last mile service delivery and empower our weavers, artisans and farmers and bring the market to their doorsteps.
He
opined that celebrations like the Startup India Innovation Week will
definitely bring the spotlight on our innovators. The Minister said that
‘Startup India’ must become a symbol of Self Reliance and Self
Confidence.