Startup India at 10: PM Modi says India’s startup journey has become a global success story

New Delhi, January 23. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India’s startup movement has evolved into a national revolution over the past decade, transforming the country into the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem and reshaping the aspirations of its youth.

Addressing a programme at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on January 16 to mark National Startup Day and 10 years of the Startup India initiative, the Prime Minister described the occasion as a celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship, with startup founders and innovators representing the future of a rapidly developing India.

Modi said he had earlier interacted with young entrepreneurs working in sectors such as agriculture, fintech, mobility, healthcare and sustainability, and was struck not just by their ideas but by their confidence and ambition. He noted that India’s youth are increasingly focused on solving real-world problems and are willing to take risks to turn new ideas into reality.

Recalling the launch of Startup India in 2016, the Prime Minister said the initiative challenged a system that once offered limited space for individual innovation.

“In just 10 years, Startup India has become a revolution,” he said, pointing out that the number of startups has risen from fewer than 500 a decade ago to over two lakh today. He added that India had only four unicorns in 2014, compared with nearly 125 active unicorns now, drawing global attention to the country’s entrepreneurial growth.

Highlighting the pace of expansion, Modi said nearly 44,000 startups were registered in 2025 alone, the highest annual addition since the programme began. He said startups are increasingly becoming unicorns, launching IPOs and creating large-scale employment, and expressed confidence that many young entrepreneurs present at the event would emerge as future case studies of success.

The Prime Minister said Startup India has also changed India’s business culture, breaking the notion that entrepreneurship was limited to large industrial families. Today, he noted, young people from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and even villages are launching startups to address grassroots challenges, reflecting a new spirit of nation-building.

He underlined the strong participation of women in the startup ecosystem, noting that more than 45 percent of recognised startups have at least one woman director or partner. India, he said, has emerged as the world’s second-largest ecosystem for women-led startup funding, strengthening inclusive growth.

Modi emphasised that risk-taking, once discouraged, has now become mainstream, with innovators who think beyond secure salaries gaining respect. Drawing parallels with his own approach, he said he had consistently taken on difficult and politically risky decisions when they were necessary for the country’s long-term interest.

The Prime Minister highlighted steps taken over the past decade to build a supportive innovation ecosystem, including Atal Tinkering Labs in schools, hackathons, and incubation centres. He said regulatory reforms had reduced compliance burdens, with over 180 provisions decriminalised under the Jan Vishwas Act, self-certification introduced in several laws, and mergers and exits made easier.

Calling Startup India a “rainbow vision” connecting diverse sectors, Modi cited examples from defence manufacturing, space, drones and public procurement. He said platforms such as iDEX have opened strategic sectors to startups, while reforms have enabled nearly 200 space startups to gain global recognition. Through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), around 35,000 startups and small businesses have received orders worth about Rs. 50,000 crore ($5.4 billion), he added.

On access to finance, the Prime Minister said over Rs. 25,000 crore has been invested through the Fund of Funds for Startups, alongside seed funding schemes such as the Startup India Seed Fund, IN-SPACe Seed Fund and NIDHI programme. A Credit Guarantee Scheme, he said, is helping ensure that lack of collateral does not hinder innovation.

Looking ahead, Modi stressed the need to prepare for emerging technologies crucial to economic security and strategic autonomy, particularly artificial intelligence. He said India’s startups would play a central role in the AI revolution, noting that the country will host the AI Impact Summit in February 2026. To address high computing costs, he said the India AI Mission has onboarded more than 38,000 GPUs to make advanced technology accessible to startups, while ensuring indigenous AI is developed on Indian servers.

Urging startups to aim for global leadership rather than mere participation, the Prime Minister called for greater focus on manufacturing, alongside digital and services sectors. He said India must create world-class products based on unique technologies and assured entrepreneurs of the government’s continued support.

“The past ten years have shown what India is capable of,” Modi said, adding that the goal for the next decade should be for India to lead the world in new startup trends and technologies.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal and other dignitaries were present at the event.

Startup India was launched on January 16, 2016, to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and investment-led growth, with the aim of turning India into a nation of job creators. Over the past decade, it has become a key pillar of India’s economic and innovation framework, with more than two lakh recognised startups contributing significantly to employment generation and innovation-driven growth across sectors.