Highlights:
- To commemorate India’s 75th year of independence, the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ is a virtual week-long innovation event.
- At 10.30 a.m., Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a video conference with startups and address Startup India Innovation Week.
- Over 150 entrepreneurs being divided into six groups based on their interests.
What is in the News?
The ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ is a virtual week-long innovation event to mark India’s 75th year of independence.
From January 10 to 16, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will host the first-ever Startup India Innovation Week.
PM Modi’s interaction with news startups
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to interact with startups and address Startup India Innovation Week through video conferencing at 10.30 a.m. on January 15 in a closed-door event, according to DPIIT Secretary Anurag Jain, who briefed the media via virtual press conference.
Not face-to-face but a virtual week
This virtual week-long innovation event, entitled ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav,’ aims to mark India’s 75th year of independence by showcasing the breadth and depth of entrepreneurship across the country.
Who will attend and launch the event?
Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal will launch the week-long event, which will be attended by Ministers of State (MoS) for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash and Anupriya Patel. Dr. K Radhakrishnan, Ex-Chairman, ISRO, Prof. K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, Nandan Nilekani, Non-Executive Chairman, Infosys, and many other industry experts will talk at the opening session.
Six different groups and themes
Over 150 entrepreneurs were grouped into six working groups around themes including Growing from Roots, Nudging the DNA, from Local to Global, Technology of the Future, Manufacturing Champions, and Sustainable Development.
Aim of the discussion
The goal of the discussion is to learn how startups can help meet national needs through driving innovation in the country, and how the government can help them do so. The winners of the National Startup Awards 2021 will be announced on this day, honouring outstanding companies and ecosystem facilitators that are establishing scalable firms with significant potential for job creation, wealth creation, and social impact.
According to Mr. Jain, “With over 40 unicorns added in the year, 2021 has been dubbed the “Year of Unicorns .” India is establishing itself as a global innovation engine, with the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world. To date, DPIIT has identified over 61,000 startups. Since 2016, our entrepreneurs have produced over 6 lakh employment across 55 industries in 633 districts, with at least one startup from every State and UT in the country. 45 percent of the startups are from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, while 45 percent of the startups are led by women. Startups have the ability to hasten India’s inclusion into global value chains while also having a global influence.”
Focus area of the event
The primary purpose of this startup and innovation festival is to bring together key companies, entrepreneurs, investors, incubators, funding agencies, banks, policymakers, and other national and international stakeholders to celebrate entrepreneurship and promote innovation.
Furthermore, to share knowledge on fostering startup ecosystems, developing entrepreneurial ecosystem capacities, mobilising global and domestic capital for startup investments, encouraging and inspiring the youth to innovate and start businesses, providing market access opportunities for startups, and showcasing high-quality, high-technology, and cost-effective innovations from India.
Various sessions included participation by the Ministry of Education, Niti Aayog, Office of PSA, DBT, DST, MeitY, Ministry of Defence, and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, among others.
