Startups: A boon for bold, jugaad and innovative India’s economic growth
India is a country well known for its excellence in calculated investments, innovation, and infrastructure. It has been a decade since the startup policy was successfully launched on January 16, 2016. Indian startups are slow, smart, and steady growth ventures which have climbed the ladder of stunning and striking success by turning Indian problem statements into scalable and affordable solutions for the common citizen. Indian youth startups have turned unsolvable and unrealistic problems into real-time, realistic, and usable solutions which millions of Indian youths had been dreaming of for several decades. Indian startups have turned action plans into actionable, viable, feasible, and customised solutions. This includes the present era of Industry 4.0 / 5.0 / emerging 6.0 digital transformation technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, semiconductor chips, quantum technologies, unmanned aerial vehicles, 5G, and the emerging hyperloop of the present decade.
India’s National Education Policy 2020 has been developing holistic framework models and a structured approach in the Indian education system through experiential learning, skill development, integration of emerging technologies, soft skills, business model building, and academia-industry collaboration. This, in turn, builds strong and structured startup capabilities among youngsters. Indian universities and higher educational institutions have been offering courses such as idea-to-business models, entrepreneurship, IP management, and how to create smart business plans within course curricula, which paves the way for students to develop startup skills while they are in education. MOOC platforms such as NPTEL and SWAYAM have been revolutionising startup education through digital learning courses on entrepreneurship. Startup India has kick-started free online courses on Artificial Intelligence, financial literacy, digital marketing, and intellectual property, which have facilitated youngsters and startups in building strong foundational startup skills.
Indian Startups: A Jugaad for Building Innovative India
Startup culture has been deeply rooted among young schoolchildren in India through initiatives such as Atal Tinkering Labs, enabling students to work on think-tank problems in school laboratories. The infrastructure created in schools helps students build grassroots innovative models through experiential and project-based learning using 3D printing, the Internet of Things (IoT), unmanned aerial vehicle technologies, and many more. India’s youth innovation competitions such as DST INSPIRE MANAK, Smart India Hackathons, MSME hackathons, DRDO’s iDEX Innovation Challenge, and the World Skills Competition have helped build scalable models which youngsters have been striving to develop. Additionally, Government of India-supported bootcamps and cohort training programmes have trained youth to follow a structured framework for converting micro ideas into calculated and scalable product models.
Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), an iconic government initiative to Fund the Unfunded, and organisations such as SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India) have provided confidence and handholding support to young startups and Indian MSMEs. Initiatives such as Swavalambini have empowered female undergraduates to launch ventures, forming the basis of livelihood and self-reliance among them.
India has built extensive Digital Public Infrastructure, including startup incubators, research, and innovation parks across the nation, such as Atal Incubation Centres (AICs), MSME Incubation Centres, STPI (Software Technology Parks of India) incubation centres, BioNest, and several state-run centres to boost startup culture among youth.
India’s startup culture is encouraging the power of Nari Shakti, which enabled women students in Kerala to build the nation’s first women-engineered satellite launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The Indian youth startup mantra is Jugaad innovation. Indian agriculture has been redefined by startups and jugaad innovators such as Niyo FarmTech, which developed frugal technologies like Neo Solar and Bahubali models affordable for marginal farming communities. These innovations help reduce the burden of traditional heavy backpack spraying systems.
Indian startups such as Skyroot Aerospace have created a dream of space innovation in the country, paving the way for advanced aerospace systems and encouraging ventures to enter the private space sector. These achievements highlight not only the power of India’s technological infrastructure but also the strength of youth taking calculated risks and making smart investments, thereby building strong foundations for future generations.
Indian Startups: Fiction to Facts
India has achieved landmark success by developing home-grown semiconductor chips such as Vikram 32 and the recently introduced DHRUV64, a 64-bit microprocessor. Quantum startups such as QNu Labs have developed Quantum Random Number Generators, demonstrating the power of the three Ts — Technology, Talent, and Temperament — among Indian youth. These products are listed on the MSMEs GeM portal, adding value to supply-chain commerce and boosting the economy. The dreams of Indian youth are no longer confined to childhood television fiction.
The IIT Madras-incubated startup TuTr Hyperloop, a student-run venture, has developed India’s first indigenous hyperloop technology, marking a historic achievement in transportation technology. NeoMotion, another IIT Madras-incubated startup, has developed innovative and socially inclusive wheelchairs, giving mobility and dignity to persons with physical disabilities.
The DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has recognised startup Ramuka Global Services Pvt. Ltd, which, in collaboration with CSIR-CRRI, developed ECOFIX, a sustainable solution for pothole repair. Biocon, a women-led innovative and integrated pharmaceutical venture, has been building foundational blocks for pharmaceutical development while promoting young startup innovators through smart investments.
Way Forward for Amrit Kaal
and Viksit Bharat India’s vibrant startup culture stands as a defining icon for the nation. Indian startups have been transforming initiatives into impactful results. India’s startup ecosystem has given wings to the dreams of youth to fly to greater heights. It has built resilience and confidence among young minds, grooming them to convert dreams into real-world products, thereby adding stepping stones and milestones towards Amrit Kaal and Viksit Bharat @2047.
The writer is Head Institute Industry Interface Programme Hindustan College of Science and Technology, Mathura; views are personal
