Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged India’s startup ecosystem to shift greater focus towards manufacturing and artificial intelligence, asserting that the country must emerge as a global leader in emerging technologies over the next decade. His remarks came as India marked a decade of the Startup India Initiative, which he launched on January 16, 2016, with the aim of transforming the nation from a hub of job seekers into one of job creators.
Addressing the National Startup Day event, Modi said the Startup India Mission had evolved into a nationwide movement. “In just 10 years, Startup India has become a revolution. Today, India stands as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem,” he said, adding that the next goal should be to lead the world in new startup trends and technologies. “The last decade has proven India’s capabilities. The next 10 years must establish India’s global leadership.”
Calling courage the foundation of entrepreneurship, the Prime Minister acknowledged the risks taken by young Indians to build the startup ecosystem. He noted that while risk-taking was once discouraged, it is now mainstream. “Those who think beyond monthly salaries are not only accepted today, but respected,” he said, adding that ideas once seen as fringe are now setting new trends.
Drawing a parallel with his own political journey, Modi said he has never shied away from taking difficult decisions in the national interest. “Previous governments avoided many necessary reforms considering them high political risks. Like innovators, I believe that if something is essential for the nation, it is worth taking the risk,” he said.
Modi underlined that countries leading in artificial intelligence would gain a decisive strategic advantage and said India’s startups would play a critical role in achieving that goal. Acknowledging challenges such as high computing costs, he said the India AI Mission is addressing these issues by onboarding more than 38,000 GPUs to make advanced technology accessible to smaller startups, while ensuring that indigenous AI solutions are built by Indian talent on Indian servers. He added that similar initiatives are underway in areas such as semiconductors, data centres and green hydrogen.
“Startup India is not merely a scheme; it is a broad vision that connects multiple sectors with new opportunities,” Modi said.
He highlighted how the government has opened strategic sectors to startups. Under the Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) programme, startups are now competing with established companies in defence manufacturing, supported by new procurement pathways. Nearly 200 startups are working in the space sector following its liberalisation, while reforms in the drone sector have removed outdated rules that long constrained Indian innovators.
On market access, Modi said the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has emerged as a key platform for startups and small businesses in public procurement. Around 35,000 startups are registered on GeM and have collectively received about five lakh orders worth nearly ₹50,000 crore.
The Prime Minister also announced major support for innovation through a ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Scheme and a deep-tech fund of funds aimed at enabling long-term investments in sunrise sectors. Emphasising that “today’s research becomes tomorrow’s intellectual property,” he said India must invest in emerging domains that are vital for economic security and strategic autonomy.
Modi said the startup growth momentum would continue as more companies scale up, become unicorns, list on stock markets and generate employment. “These numbers show how Indian startups are driving innovation, jobs and economic growth,” he said.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said Indian startups are now active across more than 50 sectors, including deep-tech, artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantum computing, agri-tech, space, drones, aerospace and rocket technology. He noted that nearly half of all startups are emerging from tier-II and tier-III cities, reflecting how the startup revolution has spread across the country.
Goyal added that global interest in Indian startups is growing rapidly, with several countries expressing interest during bilateral trade talks in building startup partnerships with India. He said nearly 100 countries are keen to collaborate with India’s startup ecosystem through inter-startup coordination platforms.
