India's Startup Boom: 300x Growth in 10 Years - Jitendra Singh

New Delhi, Apr 28 (PTI) From just about 350 startups in 2014, their number in India grew over 300 times in the past ten years after Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday.

He said the country today has the 3rd largest startup ecosystem globally and is home to the fastest-growing unicorns.

"For the first time in the history of independent India, Modi as PM made a painstaking and conscious effort to educate the youth of this country that employment is not confined only to a government job and he has promoted new avenues of livelihood which may be more lucrative than a government job," Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, told PTI here.

From just about 350 startups in the year 2014, startups in India grew over 300 times in ten years after Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister, he said.

Singh further said, PM Modi unleashed India's space research by opening up the hitherto conservative and secluded sector.

"India has literally reached for the moon and beyond with the twin feats of Chardyaan-3 and Aditya L1 solar mission in the last year alone," he added.

Singh said, the number of space startups has gone up from a single digit to three digits in just about four years since the space sector was opened up to the private sector.

PM Modi's out-of-the-box decisions have given a push to different sectors including space, railways, roads, infrastructure and electronics-communication, and which has posted India's economy from 11th rank to 5th largest economy and is now on the verge of occupying third rank, the Union minister said.

Singh said, in 2014, when PM Modi took over, India stood as the world's tenth largest economy.

"In less than ten years, we jumped to 5th position. Hopefully this year it will emerge as the 4th largest economy and during PM Modi's 3rd term, India will be the world's 3rd largest economy, marching on to become the no 1 economy by 2047," he added.

India of 2024 is ready to take a giant leap, backed by its scientific acumen and technological prowess, Singh said.

He said India has emerged as a leading startup ecosystem in the world and the time has come to strategise sustainability.

Singh said, youth is the centre of focus of the Modi government through empowerment of the "Amrit-Peedhi".

"The common citizen believes that India can become the world's leading economy under the leadership of PM Modi because of the outreach he commands across the world and the common people also feel confident under the government headed by Narendra Modi," he said.