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New Delhi : Union Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and Textile Minister Piyush Goyal chaired the virtual meeting of “National Startup Advisory Council here on August 16, 2021. Goyal while addressing the meeting said that implementation of ideas of Financing, Mentorship, Taxation etc. will enable us to strengthen our startup ecosystem further. He said our startup ecosystem is a reflection of our youth’s Energy, Enthusiasm, and Agility, and Startup India movement has brought a ‘change in mindset’ from ‘can do’ to ‘will do’.
Goyal said that our startup ecosystem has the potential and promise to make India the Innovation and Invention hub of the world and National Startup Advisory Council (NSAC) has been working tirelessly to pave the way forward for budding Startup Entrepreneurs in India. He said that NSAC will nurture Startups to aim for higher Competitiveness and make India the Startup Capital.
Goyal said that in the 75 weeks of Azadi ke Amrit Mahotsav, NSAC should facilitate 75 startups to become unicorns. He further added that the Prime Minister’s mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas aur Sabka Prayas’ finds resonance with our startups. He said our aim is to make ‘Startup India’ a symbol of National Participation & National Consciousness., according to a PIB release
In this age of Covid-19, when everyone is overcoming severe stress, Goyal said that he was happy to see the resilience and ‘never say die’ spirit of our startup ecosystem. The Minister said the 21st century is the ‘Century of Startups’ & with our Startups it is the ‘Century of India’. He said 21 unicorns in last 6 months inspire all to Dream Big and Achieve Bigger. With nearly 60 unicorns, India has one of the largest startup stable in the entire world, Goyal said.
The Minister stressed on starting a STARTUP revolution. Goyal said with NEP 2020, schools will now sow the seeds of startup ideas at a young age. He said youth are job creators of tomorrow and drivers of innovation & leaders of 4th Industrial Revolution. Goyal said that he wanted to see new startups emerge across India especially in Tier II & Tier III cities. He said, this will catalyse employment generation and strengthen forward and backward linkages.
Goyal asked DPIIT to now act as a ‘Facilitator’ with Open doors, Open Arms & Open Mind. He said that Government is committed to cut red tape, improve Ease of Doing Business, provide financial assistance through Startup seed fund, supporting incubators, enhancing skills and this holistic approach has intended to resolve the issues relating to capital mobilisation, support innovation with tinkering labs, and meet the capacity and capability requirements of startups.
The meeting was attended by top stakeholders, officials and existing start ups in the country. Some of them included M R Kumar, Chairman, LIC; R S Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority; Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital; Ritesh Agarwal, Founder, OYO Rooms; Manoj Kohli, Country Head, Softbank India; Abhiraj Bhal, Co-founder, UrbanCompany; Kunal Bahl, Co-founder, Snapdeal; Vineet Aggarwal, President, ASSOCHAM; Sanjeev Bhikchandani, Co-founder, InfoEdge; Mohandas Pai, Co-founder & Chairman, Aarin Capital; Prashant Prakash, Partner, Accel Partners; Anjali Bansal, Founder, Avaana Capital; Sharad Sharma, Founder, iSpirt; and Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM.