Bharat is one of the youngest country in the world, with more than 55 per cent of the population below the age of 25, and more than 60 per cent of the population is in the working age, between 15 to 60 years. It is estimated that its population’s average age by the year 2023-end would be 29 years old in India, whereas in Japan, it will be 47 years, and in the United States of America, it will be 40 years old.
Indian youth must strive to resolve and ameliorate problems of Bharat which eliminates and neutralises inequalities and imbalances at all levels, which persist in the forms of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, corruption, violence and gender bias. In Amrit Kaal, youth entrepreneurs and young innovators will play a vital role in ranking Bharat among the top 5 in importantance and underlying vital parameters and indices like the Human Development Index, Human Capital Index, Global Hunger Index, World Happiness Index, Inclusive Development Index, Gender Development Index and Global Burden of Disease Study. Bharat’s rank in many development indices has barely improved over the years. If Bharat has to progress and upsurge itself upon these indices and mark-ups, then the Indian startups must take charge and surge forward to fight and rahe wars against multiple inequalities and imbalances and contribute to nation-building.
Employment Generation
Rajan Anandan, Managing Director of Sequoia India, said that startups in India could generate 100 million new jobs. “China has already created 200 million jobs. There is no reason why we cannot create over 100 million new jobs leveraging the digital economy,” Anandan said.
Startups will be crucial future growth drivers and for India’s economy and will be vital in surmounting the country’s $5 trillion target. Startups have been the source of significant FDI inflows
The total number of employment opportunities generated and created by startups have increased at a compound annual growth (CAGR) rate of 78 per cent between 2017 and 22. This impressive growth of startups made India the third biggest startup ecosystem in the world, that has contributed significantly to the Indian economy, and this exhibits the capacity to add about 4-5 per cent to the GDP of India. As per PWC, to build a $10 trillion economy, Bharat needs to focus on innovation-driven solutions, which may account for almost 40 per cent of the $10 trillion Indian economy envisaged by 2034.
Making Bharat Vishwa Guru
Startups will be crucial future growth drivers for India’s economy and will be vital in surmounting the country’s $5 trillion target. Startups have been the source of significant FDI inflows. Foreign investments made by leading investors such as SoftBank, Accel, Sequoia, and Goldman Sachs into Indian startups have shored up and ameliorated the Indian economy.
“In a day, when you don’t come across any problems – you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path”
—Swami Vivekananda
Startups will capitalise on most of the country’s gains, such as improved technology access, enhanced internet connectivity, smartphone proliferation, data, and payments. Industry patrons and investors may support this digital revolution by funding startups with innovative or disruptive solutions and business models.
To make Bharat “Vishwa Guru” again, Bharat must emerge as the hub of knowledge and innovation. The world should come to Bharat to solve all sorts of its problems and emerging challenges – economic, social, mental or spiritual or religious. Thus, like Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), the Indian Council for Start-ups Relations (ICSR) should be established. Its objectives must be to actively formulate and implement policies and programmes about India’s startup relations, foster and strengthen startup relations and mutual understanding between India and other countries, promote startup exchanges with other countries and their industry’s big players, and develop connections and networking with nations.
Building Sashakt Bharat
“Strength is Life, Weakness is Death.” ~ Swami Vivekananda
AatmaNirbhar Bharat is the latest characteristic of India’s campaign for national self-reliance. India can boost upgrade and upsurge itself by leveraging its startups as sources of national security. Allowing Startups to provide national security solutions will mean asphyxiating a cumbersome bureaucracy, being realistic about technology and engineering capabilities and creating the country’s civil-military-industrial complex to encourage innovation and research paraphernalia.
India uses 2.3 per cent of its GDP on defence, with $64 billion on military hardware in 2021. As the world’s second-largest importer of military hardware, enhancing its domestic production will help revolutionise India’s manufacturing ecosystem and stimulate job creation and self-employed.
According to Nationalism is inspired by the highest ideals of the human race, satyam [the true], shivam [the god], sundaram [the beautiful]. Nationalism in India has … roused the creative faculties which for centuries had been lying dormant and inert in our people.” According to SC Bose, Neta Ji’s Nationalism and PM Modi’s AatmaNirbhar Bharat should come together to make Bharat. The strongest nation in the world. The Defence India Start-up Challenge offers grants to India’s defence industry startups. Nonetheless, innovation can only go so far when selected startups are given a conditional grant of only around US$200,000. Such grants are insufficient for exhaustive capital-based research development and require private investment. For an actual civil-military industrial startup ecosystem to emerge, the government must address bureaucratic risk abhorrence and un-synchronised departments in the Ministry of Defence. With Agniveer, Bharat needs imperatively and urgently InnovationVeers to secure the physical, digital and spatial borders.
Eventually, the litmus test for Innovation for Defence Excellence is the scaling of prototypes which, after almost four years, has still not happened. At a time when strained US–China relations create space for Silicon Valley to look towards actively powering the Pentagon through its technological expertise in cyberwarfare and misinformation, India has not yet been able to harness its own burgeoning startup industry similarly. China has clichéd Silicon Valley’s model of rapid investments for development and upgradation of its own weapons in-house. India must analyse China’s successes here and adapt what it can if it wants to shield itself and prosper, to be self reliant.
In Amrit Kaal, Innovationveer – Entrepreneurs, providing security solutions, must change India from being the largest importer of arms with 11 per cent of total global imports to an exporter of arms. India has a critical dependence in the defence sector on countries like Russia, France, Israel, and the US.
India’s startup Story
The story of India’s startup ecosystem is no less than a surprise for the whole world. Amid growing entrepreneurship and innovation, India is witnessing unprecedented rise in the number of startups. Importantly, from the Red Fort, on August 15, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had envisioned a new India that taps on the entrepreneurial potential of its people.
Later in 2022, the Government declared January 16, as the National Startup Day—a programme to lay out an action plan to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovations and startups. Now, after 6 years of period from 2015, India is the 3rd largest startup ecosystem with 75,000 startups and interestingly, 49 per cent of startups are from Tier II and; Tier III cities. Also, more than 80 Startups, highest in the world, are getting recognised per day. According to Live Mint report, the country registered a whopping 15,400 per cent rise in the number of startups that rose from 471 in 2016 to 75,000 till August 2022. Out of the total recognised startups, around 12 per cent are in IT services, 5 per cent in professional and commercial services, 9 per cent in Healthcare and Life Sciences, 7 per cent in education and 5 per cent in agriculture. The fact is that India is also among the top choice for investors due to the fact that Investors are also pumping money in Indian startups. Owing to this, in 2020, total investment in startups was more than $30 billion, which risen to $42 billion in 2021.
The success of Indian startups could be understood by the growing number of Unicorns in the country. Unicorn companies are those that reach a valuation of $1 billion. According to the Government data, as of July 19, 2022, India is home to 105 unicorns with a total valuation of $ 338.50 billion. The year 2021, 2020, and 2019 saw the birth of the maximum number of Indian unicorns with 44, 11, and 7 unicorns coming each year, respectively. Also, in 2021, India was the third largest Unicorn producing country in the world after the US and China.
–Organiser Bureau
The role of young entrepreneurs in across the nation is vital. They are problem solvers, inspire other young people and the nation, and are incredibly ambitious and forward looking in taking clarion calls and calculated risks. They can create an identity for themselves and move the country forward. However, they will not be able to do this without the support of family, community, Government and fellow youths. Then the young entrepreneurs can make their beautiful land flourish and shine in success.
As Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar Founder of RSS, stated, “The entire society should be in such a vigilant and organised condition as no one would dare cast an evil eye on any of our points of honour. To mould the minds of our youth towards that end is the supreme aim and motto of the Sangh.” Thus, like Seva Bharati and Sanskar Bharati, RSS must establish startup Bharati to get support for entrepreneurs from the community, Government and fellow youth.
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