Startup Is All About Thinking Out Of The Box: Piyush Goyal

The startup ecosystem is all about thinking out of the box and innovating, said Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, on Tuesday. "We aspire that more than 1000 startups will participate in the event," he added while speaking at the inaugural session of ‘Startup Mahakumbh’ which is going to be held from 18th to 20th of March 2024 at Bharat Mandapam.

Goyal further added that the incubation and the event will provide a platform to discuss both the smaller and bigger issues that the startups are facing, and they can also exchange solutions for those problems.

India has emerged as the third largest ecosystem for startups globally with over 1,12,718. India ranks second in innovation quality with top positions in the quality of scientific publications and the quality of its universities among middle-income economies.

Speaking about the long way that the startups have come so far, the minister said, “Our startups are changing the roots of the game. Soon, startups are going to be the most significant players and contributors to India's economy.”

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recognised startups across 763 districts of the country as of 03 October 2023.

Goyal said, “There are 763 districts in India which have startups. But, we aim to make one startup at each district across India.”

About ‘Startup Mahakumbh’, Goyal added that organising the event in Bharat Mandapam is about encouraging and making India’s startups think and believe that it is competitive in global and international markets.

Goyal also encouraged startups to get registered in the government e-marketplace (GeM) by stating, “We want our startups to join GeM. It will provide a procurement platform for all the goods and services they produce. Gross merchandise value (GMV) through GeM has reached Rs 1 lakh crore over four and half years, on 23 March 2021.”

Goyal further added that the procurement of services through Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has grown significantly, from nearly Rs 8,500 crore in financial year 2021 (FY21) to nearly Rs 66,000 crore in FY23 to nearly Rs 1,82,000 crore in FY24 (as on 22 February 2024) which is a significant increase of nearly 176 per cent from last fiscal year.

Speaking about the idea behind taking an initiative like Startup Mahakumbh, Nivruti Rai, chief executive officer (CEO), Invest India said, “Though India had sufficient funds, the startup industry was still struggling to find its ways. So we started doing research on success stories related to startups across the world. Then, we started identifying the areas where Indian startups are lacking and how those loopholes can be addressed. Then after, we found that a platform like Startup Mahakumbh can be a solution to these issues.”

Rai further added that for the last two decades, India has been rated as BBB- by the international credit rating agencies.

Rai mentioned, “The rating that international credit agencies like S&P ratings and Fitch etc. give to the Indian startups is important since it works as an indicator for the investments to these Indian startups are going to get and influence the credit worthiness. Therefore, Startup Mahakumbh will provide a platform to exchange ideas which will in return increase the ratings of India’s startup ecosystem.”

In an exclusive interaction with BW Businessworld, Sanjay Nayar, Senior Vice President, ASSOCHAM said, “In this funding winter the government is taking sufficient actions. It has created multiple funds of funds to support startups. However, there needs to be more participation from the private sector in these startups. There are many startups which have innovative ideas, and these startups lag only because of insufficient investment. Therefore, more private investment can be one solution for this.”

Nayar further added that particular industries have been established in particular areas, therefore, there needs to be diversification if we want to establish startups in every district as envisioned by Minister of Commerce and Industry.