Union Min Goyal seeks Indian startups' help in achieving self-reliance in energy sector

Citing ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as an example of crisis turned into opportunity, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday sought startup sector's help in making India become self-reliant in energy and defence sectors.

While speaking at ET startup awards in Bengaluru, Minister said, "Every crisis can be converted into an opportunity like that of COVID-19.  COVID-19 is a big crisis, and ‘biggest of century’ crisis was converted into an opportunity, wherein many of our boys and girls came up with invative solutions to problems."

Speaking on ongoing Ukraine crisis, Union Minister said that current tensions between Russia and Ukraine should serve as a 'wake-up call' to all of us to stop relying on crude oil and military hardware. He furr asked startups to assist India in becoming energy self-sufficient. Furr emphasising need to utilise present situation to boost indigeus manufacturing, Piyush Goyal also ted that current scenario fits into 'Make in India,' an initiative launched by Centre eight years ago in a bid to boost manufacturing in country.

Furrmore, Piyush Goyal told startups that Centre was paying attention to ir demands and that its doors are open 24x7. He also spoke about assembly election results in five states, saying, " recent state election victory is an endorsement of our work and re-vitalises us to do more for startups."

Indian Startups raise $42 Bn in 2021

In a report by Orios Venture Partners, titled " Indian Tech Unicorn Report 2021," it was reported that in 2021, Indian startups raised $42 billion, up from $11.5 billion year before. According to report, India saw 46 new unicorns in year 2021. tably, total number of unicorns in India currently stands at 90, which is third-highest in world. United States leads list with 481 unicorns, while China comes in second with 301. 

"se startups are t only developing invative solutions and techlogies but also generating large-scale employment. Today, one out of 13 unicorns globally was born in India, " report said.

As per report, Bengaluru, silicon valley of India, hosts highest number of unicorns. Fintech, e-commerce, and SaaS (software as a service) sectors have most unicorns, followed by health-tech, ed-tech, direct-to-consumer, gaming, and cryptocurrency.

According to report, India has four decacorns. se are companies with a valuation of $10 billion or more. four decacorns are Flipkart, Paytm, Byju's, and OYO Rooms, with Flipkart being most valuable one. Speaking about market capitalisation, Zomato has highest market capitalisation ($14.8 billion), followed by Nykaa ($13.5 billion).

As country inches closer to milestone of 100 unicorns, PM Modi declared January 16 as National Startup Day. He asked startups to follow mantra: "Let us invate for India, invate from India." During an interaction with youngsters from startup ecosystem, PM Modi said, "Five years ago, re were less than 500 startups in India, re are close to 60,000 startups in country. Startups will be backbone of new India."

Im: ANI