On Saturday during the inauguration of the “Young Startup Conclave” in Jammu and Kashmir, Kathua Union Minister Jitendra Singh put out a statement saying that India has a huge potential for startups in all sorts of industries and also appealed to the youth to generate ideas and innovation by changing their mindset towards entrepreneurship. The youth should not let go of the opportunity knocking at their doors, especially now this time when the startup ecosystem is growing rapidly.
Startups are becoming the backbone of India across several sectors and industries. Reaching new heights of technology, India is on its way to becoming a startup destination. The government had initiated several programmes with motivating slogans with the hope to increase awareness about startups. As the slogan suggests ‘Startup India and Standup India” In 2014, about 350 startups registered which went up to 75,000 in August 2022 and have now reached 88,000 with their presence covering 653 districts across India. These startups have generated jobs for over 9 lakh employees and that number is expected to go much higher in the coming future.
As for Unicorns, India has seen similarly rapid growth and is currently home to 107 Unicorns. In 2022, we saw 23 startups reach ‘Unicorn startups’ which is an indicator of the level of India’s startup ecosystem.
The “Young Startup Conclave” was organized by CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) and the Ministry of Science and Technology. The ministry expressed its thought process regarding where the youth wants to lean in today’s time, feels that the mindset of having government jobs acts like a barrier to the startup culture which includes taking risks whereas a government job is much safer and secure.
Several young entrepreneurs shared their success stories and experiences of leaving their jobs and starting their own businesses which included 2 people who pursued engineering in BTech and Mechanical engineering who had left their jobs to enter the startup space which was also showcased at the Republic Day Tableau named the ‘purple revolution’ and was recognized by the entire country, through CSIR.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh 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 startups, as these young entrepreneurs are now beginning to realize the possibility of greater fortunes in this”.
During the inauguration event, it was even observed that Jammu and Kashmir have high potential in Agri-technology as well. The climate of Jammu and Kashmir is known to be favorable for the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants. With the help of the ‘Biotech KISAN hub’ programme, about 40 orchids have been rejuvenated till now in Jammu and Kashmir. They used an innovative method which is used to transform the old orchids. The government has given full assurance and backing to be provided by DBT (direct benefit transfer scheme) and CSIR in order to set up Agri-technology startups.
