Preference for government employment hinders the startup culture: Jitendra Singh

• ByStartupStory     |    October 1, 2022

Specifically, in North India, startup culture is being hampered, according to Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who made this claim on Friday. India is currently the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, with over 77,000 startups and more than 100 unicorns in 2022 compared to 350 startups in 2014.

The minister declared at the opening of the first-ever Start-Up Expo in Jammu, which covered industries like agriculture, aroma, dairy, pharma, IT, laptops, and communications, that the startup culture still had a ways to go before it could match the youthful creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of some north Indian states, especially when compared to those in southern India.

According to him, it is important to pay attention to some of the excellent cases of several young entrepreneurs who have been spotted leaving lucrative employment at MNCs to found their Start-Ups, as these young entrepreneurs are now beginning to realise the chance of greater riches on this.

Singh emphasised the role that cities like Bengaluru and Chennai have played in the rise of startups in India and claimed that innovators, incubators, and business owners are making a name for themselves on a global scale by focusing on things like 5G, artificial intelligence, drones, semiconductors, Blockchain, green energy, and the space economy.

Agriculture, which provides a direct source of income for 54% of Indians and contributes roughly 20% of GDP, is one of the key foundations of the Indian economy, according to the minister, who called for the aggressive promotion of agri-tech businesses. He said that other governments should try to duplicate the CSIR-sponsored Aroma Mission’s success with lavender farming in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Minister noted, “that a new wave” of agri-tech startups has emerged in the country over the past couple of years, and these are addressing issues with seed management and distribution, supply chain management, cooling and refrigeration, and other related issues, in addition to assisting farmers in accessing a wider range of markets.

He claimed that young entrepreneurs are currently leaving their positions in the IT industry and at multinational corporations to launch their startups because they are beginning to understand that investing in agriculture is one of the few safe and lucrative industries.

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