Startups not a fashion, they are new normal now

Startups are the new normal emerging out of deep structural changes in the Indian economy and not just fashion these days, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said here on Monday.

He attributed the structural changes in the economy to the reforms initiated by the Narendra Modi government. “Startups are not a fashion these days, they are the new normal. They are the new reality emerging out of the deep structural changes in the Indian economy ushered by the proactive policies and reforms initiated by the Narendra Modi government over the last eight years,” the Minister of State for Electronics, IT, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said during his interaction with students of the Nirma University.

He said rapid digitisation during the COVID-19 pandemic has opened new opportunities for India in general and young people in particular.

Chandrasekhar also said the “New India” is shattering age-old narratives about democracy being “leaky, has stunted tax revenues, and that credit and other opportunities being available for a select few”.

He highlighted how India has emerged as the world’s third largest startup ecosystem with 100 unicorns and over 75,000 registered startups and termed the youth the real drivers of the Indian economy towards its goal of a USD 5 trillion economy and beyond.

The minister also visited the Ganpat University in Mehsana and the 5G Centre of Excellence, the Assembly line set up by Suzuki under a joint initiative between India and Japan.

Innovation will shape our future as well as that of the nation, he said, adding that startups and entrepreneurs would take the Indian economy to trillions. PTI