“These numbers tell the power of a vision. A vision to see innovation & enterprise drive growth,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal said.

New Delhi: India has achieved a landmark milestone of recognising 75,000 start-ups, said Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textile Piyush Goyal on Wednesday.
“These numbers tell the power of a vision. A vision to see innovation & enterprise drive growth,” Goyal said.
In a statement, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said, “During the Independence Day speech from the Red Fort on August 15, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had envisioned a new India which taps on the entrepreneurial potential of its people. On January 16 of the following year, the date which has now been declared as the National Startup Day, a programme was initiated to lay out an action plan to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and start-ups in the country.”
The statement added, “Six years hence, the action plan has successfully guided into making India the 3rd largest ecosystem. It is also interesting to note that, while the initial ten thousand start-ups were recognised in 808 days, the latest ten thousand were achieved in only 156 days. With more than 80 start-ups getting recognised per day, highest rate in the world, the future of the start-up culture is very promising and encouraging.”
The start-up India programme, which was primarily setup to provide an enabling environment for the start-ups, has today evolved into the launchpad for them, said officials.
“From providing funding to tax incentives, from support on intellectual property rights to eased public procurement, from enabling regulatory reforms to access to international fests and events, the Startup India programme has become synonymous with sustainable economic growth,” the officials added.
Out of the total recognised start-ups, around 12% cater to IT services, 9% to Healthcare and Life Sciences, 7% to education, 5% to professional and commercial services and 5% to agriculture. An impressive, 7.46 lakh jobs have been created by the Indian start-up ecosystem, so far, which has been a 110% yearly increase over the last six years. “The fact that about 49% of our start-ups are from Tier II and Tier III cities today is a validation of the tremendous potential of our country’s youth,” the statement said.