INDIA WANTS TO BE AMONG TOP 25 IN GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX: GOYAL

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday called upon stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem to strive to take India to the top 25 in the Global Innovation Index from the 46th position recorded in 2021.

Addressing the “Startup India Innovation Week Launch” virtually from New Delhi, Goyal said startups have played a significant role in India’s meteoric rise in Global Innovation Index from 76th position in 2014 to 46th position 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 observed that there is a need to make “our startups much more resilient so that they are well prepared to mitigate and overcome crisis situations like the pandemic”.

Goyal pointed that almost four startups are recognised in India every hour with 45% belonging to Tier II & III cities. 46% of startups are founded by women entrepreneurs.

More than 6 lakh jobs have been created by startups during 2018-2021. Over 2 lakh jobs were created in 2021 alone, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry after inauguration of the week-long virtual event to be focused on celebrating innovation and startups in India. Goyal said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has been acting as a “facilitator” by focusing on simplification, facilitation and bringing ease in starting and doing business.

Listing some measure taken by the Government to improve Ease of Doing Business, he said that there was an 80% rebate on patent filing and 50% on trademark filing fees, relaxation in public procurement norms, self-certification under labour and environmental laws, Funds of Funds for Startups, Income Tax exemption for 3 out of 10 years and Seed Fund Scheme of Rs 945 crore. An improved IPR regime has resulted in the registration of 1.16 million trademarks in last 4 years, compared to 1.1 million registrations in last 75 years, he added.