The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal called upon stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem to strive to take India to the top 25 in the Global Innovation Index.
Goyal stated startups are the key reason behind India’s meteoric rise in Global Innovation Index from 76 in 2014 to 46 in 2021.
He was inaugurating ṭhe “Startup India Innovation Week Launch” virtually from New Delhi.
Goyal stated that ‘Celebrating Innovation Ecosystem’, as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, was also a call to action for all of us to strengthen startup ecosystem further.
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.
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.
(With inputs from ANI)
