Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday showcased the dramatic surge in India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, noting that innovation is no longer restricted to major metro hubs.
"Before 2014, there were only a few hundred startups in India. Now, their number in the country has exceeded 2.5 lakh. Nearly half of the startups come from small cities and towns. 45% of startups have a woman director or partner. In other words, opportunities for innovation are reaching more people, and more talents are emerging," Prime Minister Modi said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.
On global Digital Public Infrastructure
Highlighting India's digital leadership, the prime minister highlighted how India's technological solutions are built to serve global needs and democratise opportunity across society.
"We are sharing our experience with Digital Public Infrastructure with other countries so that they can develop their digital systems according to their needs. During COVID-19, we also created the CoWIN platform, which was open source. Our continuous efforts are aimed at ensuring that India’s capabilities open new doors of possibility for other countries as well," he said.
The prime minister said that the country's capabilities should empower humanity.
"Friends, the power of innovation is also like this. Turning an idea into a product and a problem into a solution is a great capability in itself. But when more and more people in society get this opportunity, the balance of power is maintained, and its impact increases manifold," Prime Minister Modi said.
He also emphasised on how inclusive innovation, robust Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and decisive governance are positioning India as a global powerhouse driven by conviction rather than compulsion.
On governance, transparency and DBT
Elaborating on technology-driven governance, the prime minister explained how digital tools have eliminated intermediaries and built direct citizen-state trust
"Using technology, we have established a system to deliver government aid directly to the beneficiaries' bank accounts. This has reduced corruption, increased convenience for the country's citizens, and created a direct path between the government and the citizens," Prime Minister Modi said.
He also drew attention to India's financial fundamentals and unyielding reform momentum.
"Today, our foreign exchange reserves exceed $700 billion. Our banking system is in one of the strongest positions among many countries, friends. It is the result of this strength that India’s sovereign ratings are being upgraded. Today, India’s confidence is at an unprecedented height. We are carrying out reforms with a clear policy direction. Through GST, we have transformed a complex web of taxes into a national market.
The prime minister also talk about the reforms in the corporate sector that the government brought in.
"We have enacted an insolvency law. The 29 labour codes have now been consolidated into four simple codes. Hundreds of minor issues related to businesses have been liberalised, and we have not stopped here. India’s reform express is moving ahead at a rapid pace. For us, reforms are not a compulsion; reforms are our conviction," the prime minister said.
Prime Minister Modi reinforced on India's dual focus of driving domestic socio-economic upliftment through tech-enabled governance while contributing open-source, scalable solutions to empower humanity on the global stage.
