Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 10: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal urged players in the innovation ecosystem on Monday to work together to move India from 46th place in the Global Innovation Index in 2021 to the top 25.
Goyal, speaking virtually from New Delhi at the ‘Startup India Innovation Week Launch,’ said startups have played a vital part in India’s stratospheric ascent in the Global Innovation Index from 76th place in 2014 to 46th place in 2021.
“Our startups have changed the mind-set from ‘can do’ to ‘will do’. Startup India, which started as a mission to promote Innovation has today become a revolution of national participation and national consciousness,” the minister said.
Goyal outlined three goals for Indian entrepreneurs, ‘Make in India’, ‘Innovate in India’, and ‘Mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs’.
He believes that “our startups must become much more resilient so that they are better positioned to mitigate and overcome crisis scenarios such as the pandemic,” as he put it.
According to Goyal, about four businesses are recognised in India every hour, with 45 percent hailing from Tier II and III cities. Women are responsible for 46% of all starting companies.
During the period 2018-2021, startups created over 6 lakh jobs. According to a statement made by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry upon the opening of the week-long virtual event centred on celebrating innovation and startups in India, over 2 lakh employment were created in 2021 alone.
According to Goyal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has acted as a “facilitator” by focusing on simplification, facilitation, and making it easier to start and run a business.
He mentioned an 80% rebate on patent filing fees and a 50% rebate on trademark filing fees, as well as relaxation in public procurement norms, self-certification under labour and environmental laws, Funds of Funds for Startups, Income Tax exemption for three out of ten years, and a Rs 945 crore Seed Fund Scheme.
According to him, a better IPR regime has resulted in the registration of 1.16 million trademarks in the last four years, compared to 1.1 million in the previous 75 years.
