Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India should aim to lead the world in new startup trends and technology over the next decade, arguing that countries which move early on artificial intelligence will enjoy a lasting competitive edge, PTI reported.
Speaking at a mega event in New Delhi marking a decade of the Startup India initiative, Modi said India has “full faith” in the innovation and confidence of its entrepreneurs, and called on startups to focus on building globally relevant technologies while maintaining quality and depth.
“A nation that is forward-looking on AI will have a competitive advantage,” Modi said, urging founders to work on new ideas that solve real problems.
Startup India ‘a revolution’
Modi described Startup India as a “revolution”, noting that India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has expanded far beyond its early years. The ecosystem, he said, has grown from just four startups in 2014 to more than 2 lakh startups today, including over 125 active unicorns, making India the third-largest startup ecosystem globally.
“The startup momentum is accelerating,” he said, pointing to unicorns launching IPOs and creating employment across sectors. The prime minister said a fundamental shift has taken place in how entrepreneurship is perceived in India. Risk-taking, once discouraged, has now become mainstream.
“Those risk-taking ideas that were earlier considered fringe have now become fashionable,” Modi said, adding that India’s youth no longer want to operate within comfort zones.
According to him, Indian founders today display “impressive confidence and ambition”, with a growing focus on building solutions rather than chasing short-term gains.
Beyond metros, more women founders
Modi also highlighted the widening social and geographic base of India’s startup ecosystem. Entrepreneurs from tier-II and tier-III cities, as well as rural areas, are increasingly setting up ventures, he said.
Women-led participation has also deepened, with 45% of startups now having at least one woman director or partner, a shift he described as critical for inclusive growth.
Manufacturing and research next frontier
Looking ahead, Modi said startups must also step into manufacturing and research, arguing that innovation needs to translate into long-term intellectual property. “Today’s research becomes tomorrow’s intellectual property,” he said, adding that the time has come for startups to also focus on manufacturing and research.
Modi said the government has backed the ecosystem by removing outdated regulations and expanding access to seed funding. “We have removed outdated rules and trusted innovators,” he said. Launched on 16 January 2016, Startup India was designed to turn India into a nation of job creators rather than job seekers. As the programme enters its second decade, Modi said the focus must now shift from scale alone to global leadership in technology and innovation.
Startup ground reality
That being said, a reality check at the startup community in India shows that 724 startups shut down in 2025 (till October), down sharply from 3,903 closures in 2024, as per data shared by Tracxn with financialexpress.com. Furthermore, according to Tracxn’s report, startups in the country raised $10.5 billion in 2025, making the country rank third after the US and the UK in the startup ecosystem.
As per data from PIB, India has over 2 lakh DPIIT-recognised startups as of December 2025. Around 50% of recognised startups now originate from Tier-II and Tier-III cities.