By Madan Padaki & Arup Roychoudhury
Demographic dividend, a term used for over two decades to denote India’s biggest advantage in the global marketplace, essentially means the country has been in a sweet spot where around 50% of its population is below 25 years of age and 65% below 35, creating a “youth bulge”.
There has been long talk of taking advantage of this by ensuring its working-age population is provided with education, skills, and meaningful employment to enable them to contribute significantly to India’s economic growth. Many leading economies like China, Europe, and Japan are facing ageing, shrinking workforces, creating a massive opportunity for India. But if not harnessed, the “demographic dividend” could become a “demographic disaster” and burden India with high unemployment and increased social conflict.
As things stand, given India’s population, no number of jobs created by central and state governments, PSUs, and the private sector will be enough. In order to achieve Viksit Bharat goals, mass employment needs to be supplemented by mass entrepreneurship. This is something that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often spoken about, and the draft national skill policy 2025, released recently, shows the government’s intent.
Entrepreneurship needs a stronger support ecosystem
The draft policy says that 110 million students, 220 million “not in employment, education or training” individuals, and 20 million unemployed persons are either actively seeking or poised to seek employment, illustrating the scale of the challenge in our job market. It primarily focuses on skilling job-seeking youth, especially from underprivileged communities. It rightly states that India’s demographic opportunity is inspiring, but not inevitable. It needs to be harnessed through timely policy and strategic interventions that are aligned with industry and workforce needs.
While there are important proposed policy measures on entrepreneurship, further clarity is required on certain issues. The report acknowledges that the environment for entrepreneurship and self-employment needs to be strengthened. It is essential to build risk-taking appetite among the youth, ease regulatory environment, and improve access to capital.
The policy says efforts will focus on cultivating aspirations through early entrepreneurship related skilling, in middle and high schools, and awareness campaigns, connecting aspirants with mentors and resources to address challenges and explore opportunities. It says support will be planned for entrepreneurs whose ventures have failed to help them restart sustainable businesses. It aims to equip budding entrepreneurs with essential skills like business planning, financial management, and regulatory compliance.
These proposed measures should be commended, but they may not be enough.
From Start-up India to Entrepreneurship for Bharat
To begin with, there needs to be a National Entrepreneurship Mission under which governments, private sector, academia, non-profits, and the start-up ecosystem can come up with solutions and policy prescriptions at a local level. This mission needs presence in every district, especially in aspirational ones, through nodal entities.
For example, the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship recently signed a strategic collaboration with NITI Aayog to foster the creation of vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystems, starting with pilot sites in Nagpur, Visakhapatnam, and some districts in Uttar Pradesh. The partnership seeks to empower local entrepreneurs, bringing together stakeholders in that ecosystem—from government, corporates, educational and financial institutions, and community organisations—to turn it into a movement that drives economic growth and job creation.
At the grassroots, mechanisms and support systems are needed to help those at the bottom of the pyramid in their entrepreneurship journeys, be it securing finance, opening Jan Dhan accounts, access to schemes like Mudra loans, adding them to ONDC or other e-commerce marketplaces, access to UPI, or other digital rails.
The focus of any entrepreneurship policy should be youth from the bottom of the pyramid and underprivileged sections. Many, especially women, persons with disabilities, and other economic minorities, may be willing to try out new ideas, so their skilling should be comprehensive. They should be trained in accounting and business management, access to capital, market behaviour, and most importantly pricing—which a micro-entrepreneur can’t be expected to know. The policy should promote rural entrepreneurship by creating a framework to identify opportunities, spot talent, and provide localised and specific literacy and knowledge bodies. There should also be a dedicated “remote buddy/mentor system” for rural entrepreneurs.
Now is the time to shift from “Start-up India” to “Entrepreneurship for Bharat”—because the next wave of entrepreneurs and job creators needs to come from smaller towns, remote districts, and villages. That is where governments, venture capital funds, and the private sector need to focus on. The policy needs to come up with guidelines on how to give access to capital, mentorship, and digital infrastructure to rural populations who may have great ideas but not the structure to move it to a successful venture. This will also help reduce migration to overburdened cities and create resilient local economies.
Societal thinking also needs a shift. Most parents want their children to crack entrance exams to join elite colleges and land lucrative salaried jobs. What is needed is establishing continuous skill development and career pivoting as normal practices, with robust systems supporting adult education, professional transition, and career reinvention.
Enterprise and entrepreneurship are not alien concepts. We have been practising this for centuries, from the ancient land and maritime trade routes to our current status as a global start-up and innovation hub. It is time for India to normalise entrepreneurship as a way of life, so that in every city, district, and village, people are enabled to start their own ventures and create jobs and wealth.
The writers are respectively co-founder and policy advisor, Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship.
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