New Delhi, Jan 16 (.) Underlining the remarkable transformation of the country’s entrepreneurial landscape over the past decade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that India has emerged as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem.
He pointed out that while India had fewer than 500 startups ten years ago, the number has now crossed 2 lakh.
He further noted that in 2014, there were only four unicorns in the country, compared to nearly 125 active unicorns today, adding that the world is watching India’s startup success story with amazement.
The Prime Minister was addressing a programme at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, marking National Startup Day and celebrating 10 years of the Startup India initiative. He said, “Milestone was not merely the success of a government scheme, but a journey of millions of dreams and countless imaginations turning into reality.”
Recalling his interaction with young innovators from sectors such as agriculture, fintech, mobility, health and sustainability, Modi said their ideas impressed him, but their confidence and ambition impressed him even more. He emphasised that India’s youth are increasingly focused on solving real-world problems and daring to dream big.
Highlighting the pace of growth, the Prime Minister said, “Startup India has become a revolution in just ten years, with startups launching IPOs, becoming unicorns and generating large-scale employment.”
He noted that in 2025 alone, “nearly 44,000 new startups were registered the highest in any single year since the initiative began,” reflecting how startups are driving innovation, jobs and economic growth.
Modi said, “Startup India has fundamentally changed India’s entrepreneurial culture.” Earlier, he noted, business ventures were largely confined to established industrial families, while most middle-class and poor youth aspired only for jobs.
Today, he said, young people from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and even villages are setting up startups and addressing grassroots challenges.
He also highlighted the “growing role of women, noting that over 45 per cent of recognised startups” have at least one woman director or partner, making India the world’s second-largest ecosystem for women-led startup funding.
Emphasising the importance of risk-taking, the Prime Minister said that what was once discouraged has now become mainstream. “Today, risk-taking has become mainstream,” he said, adding that those who think beyond fixed salaries are now respected. Drawing a parallel with his own governance approach, he said that taking difficult decisions for the nation’s long-term benefit requires courage, even if it involves political risk.
The Prime Minister outlined steps taken to build a strong innovation ecosystem, including Atal Tinkering Labs in schools, national hackathons, incubation centres, simplified compliances and the decriminalisation of over 180 legal provisions under the Jan Vishwas Act. He said these reforms have helped reduce fear of an inspector raj and allowed innovators to focus on creativity.
“Startup India is not just a scheme, it is a rainbow vision connecting diverse sectors with new opportunities,” Shri Modi said, citing examples from defence manufacturing, space, drones and public procurement through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), where startups have received orders worth around Rs 50,000 crore.
On access to finance, the Prime Minister said over Rs 25,000 crore has been invested through the Fund of Funds for Startups, supported by seed funding schemes and a Credit Guarantee Scheme to ensure lack of collateral does not hinder innovation. He also highlighted a ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Scheme and a deep-tech fund of funds to support sunrise sectors.
Calling for preparedness for the future, Shri Modi urged startups to focus on emerging domains such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, data centres and green hydrogen. He said India’s ambition should not be limited to participation but must aim for global leadership. Stressing that the country has excelled in digital and services-led startups, he said the time has now come for startups to focus more on manufacturing and creating world-class products.
Expressing strong faith in India’s entrepreneurs, the Prime Minister said the courage, confidence and innovation of startups are shaping the nation’s future. He concluded by saying that while the past decade has proven India’s capabilities, the next decade should see India leading the world in new startup trends and technologies.
‘Startup India’ was launched on January 16, 2016, to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and investment-led growth, with the goal of making India a nation of job creators rather than job seekers. Over the past decade, it has emerged as a cornerstone of India’s economic and innovation architecture, with startups playing a key role in employment generation and strengthening domestic value chains across sectors.
. MI .