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Contents
Relevance: Demographic dividend and role of start-ups in Indian economy
Synopsis: India@75 is on the height of change and, it needs a golden era of global entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation for India@100.
Context
While India has historically and culturally been an entrepreneurially-driven nation, the last decade-and-a-half has witnessed a significant change in the landscape — from the founding of new startups, to global investor interest, to the advances made in infrastructure and policies.
India’s unique position in the world
- First, India has 62% of the population in the working age group. And the ability of the young generation to take risks, move fast, and disrupt things without fear, has become the biggest asset today.
- Indians likely to have an estimated 850 million internet users by 2030 and, it has the opportunity to be a global game-changer.
- Second, in 2021 alone, Indian startups have raised $20 billion in funding. The startup economy has brought new business opportunities, innovation, tech-centric approaches and job creation across sectors. It paves the way for innovation and expanding global footprint.
- Third, according to Nasscom, India has 50-plus strong “Unicorn club” in 2021, the country now finds itself at the epicentre of entrepreneurship.
- unicorn refers to any startup that reaches the valuation of $1 Billion.
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Growth of start-up ecosystem in India
Today, India is home to more than 40,000 startups and is building a robust tech and internet infrastructure. The steady rise of Indian IT companies in the 2000s, a large talent pool of a skilled workforce, increased expendable income, and rising capital inflows have all contributed to this.
- Indian startups are also taking big strides in building synergies and partnerships with global entities.
- Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Indian startups have rapidly innovated to provide indigenous, tech-enabled solutions to combat challenges.
- One of the paradigm shifts has been systemic shift to online education and remote learning at scale.
What more can be done?
- Education, reskilling, and upskilling of our workforce is crucial.
- Apart from policy-level decisions, India’s corporate sector should cultivate entrepreneurialism, and create partnerships to build impactful technology solutions, sustainable and resource-efficient growth.
- Focus on developing solutions that allow businesses in key sectors to meet goals of national importance.
Conclusion:
The collective efforts of the public and private sectors to improve physical and digital connectivity will help unlock the untapped potential of rural and semi-urban India to truly lead Industry 4.0.
Terms to know:
