CATAPULTING INDIA TO BE THE LEADING STARTUP NATION
“We are trying to help the entire pipeline of innovation and entrepreneurship”
AMITABH KANT, CEO Mr. Kant, you have been a key driver for several policy initiatives including ‘Make in India’, ‘StartUp India’, ‘Incredible India’, FDI Policy and Promotion, which has seen
to be India’s multinationals of tomorrow. I’m very confident that it’ll be these young women and men who help India take leadership in not just startups, but innovation and improvement in quality of life generally!
India rise to the 39th spot in Global competitive ranking from the 55th. How would you like to describe your current role at
In the Atal Innovation Mission, we are trying to help the entire pipeline
NITI Aayog, its impact on innovation and vision to
of innovation and entrepreneurship. In the Atal Tinkering Labs in more
transform India?
than a thousand schools nation-wide, we hope to encourage and enable millions of students to make new things with their hands, deploying
NITI Aayog is the think tank of the government. In its present
the latest new technologies for rapid prototyping, such as 3D printing,
role, many initiatives have been taken to bring States into the focus
electronics and micro-processors, vinyl cutters, etc. The Atal Incubation
for achieving the national objectives and targets. NITI Aayog is
Centres program will support entrepreneurs at more than 100 centres
implementing Atal Innovation Mission, which is the Govt of India’s
around the country, creating the soft infrastructure and ecosystem
effort to strengthen the country’s Innovation-driven Ecosystem. My
where young entrepreneurs can mould and shape their business models
role is to establish this Mission as the heart of India’s innovation efforts,
and products. With AIM Social Impact Challenges, we aim to spur
so it can expand and create the platform where India’s innovators can
innovations for socially relevant areas. These programs are targeted to
connect and thrive together. I am helping create a culture of promoting
support innovation and entrepreneurship across the entire value chain.
innovation in India, within and outside the government. Innovation will come from all our youngsters, within the government and outside,
What are the major challenges/pitfalls India needs to
and the system needs to give them the space to experiment new things,
overcome to become as successful as Israel?
which in turn requires a new mindset. All of us need to work on creating this mindset.
Israel’s system of bringing technologies to market has seen committed participation from VC funds and investors, supported and guided by
For a country that is even smaller than the state of Kerala,
its government’s programs. India’s angel and VC investment ecosystem
Israel has enough chutzpa to run with the title of ‘Startup
is rapidly growing, but is yet to gain the maturity that Israel’s has, in
Nation’. India currently stands 3rd in the Global StartUp
terms of being able to bring new tech to market. In the last few years,
Ecosystem. Do you see India taking up the mantle of start-up
the mindset of being risk-averse is starting to change, but this is just the
nation in the coming years?
beginning. As you may know, the government has already sanctioned a fund of Rs 10,000 crore to participate in Indian Venture Capital Funds.
India definitely has the potential of being the world’s leading Startup
This Fund of Funds is managed by SIDBI on a purely commercial
Nation. We have a well-educated, energetic, and self-driven young
basis, and has the mandate to seed an ecosystem where Indian
demography that wants to do their part in changing the world. We have
entrepreneurs get support on market terms from investors to scale
excellent science and technology, and increasingly we are starting to see
up their technologies and business models. I feel this initiative will
a solid ecosystem that can convert that science and tech to products to
have the highest impact in the long term, apart from our work to
serve expanding or new markets.
create new incubators, etc.
Presently, India is credited to be the third in terms of no of startup. In
As a culture, we have strengths that we now need to harness to
the last few years, young engineering and management graduates have
create products for the entire world.
started thinking in terms of applying their new education and knowledge in either starting or working for a startup, rather than joining an
We will need better connections between our labs and
existing large corporate. It is these startups of today that will grow up
markets, through investors. We believe India, with
NITI AAYOG |004
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