New Delhi, NFAPost: The engaging and insightful panel discussion on “Startups Driving Innovation and R&D for Viksit Bharat 2047” on Day 3 of Startup Mahakumbh was attended by investors, bureaucrats, policymakers, and entrepreneurs, that set the stage for an indepth discourse on India’s research and development (R&D) ecosystem and its role in shaping the nation’s future.
Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) CEO Sanjeev Kumar Gupta moderated the discussion, posing a thought-provoking question: “How can we increase R&D-led innovations in the country? While 1% of India’s GDP is allocated to R&D, in comparison, the US allocates 3% and Israel 5%.”
During the session, Digital India Foundation CEO Arvind Gupta pointed out that India must embrace its innovation-driven ecosystem while shifting gears towards deep-tech and R&D.
“Nine years ago, when we started Startup India, we had 400-odd startups. Today, we have 160,000+ startups, 120 unicorns, and 5,000 of them are deeptech and R&D-led,” said Digital India Foundation CEO Arvind Gupta.
Speaking at the concluding day of the event, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said India is such a vast country that we have a lot of things are going on.
“We have to celebrate all of it. In Fintech, we are the leaders—57% of global real-time payments happen in India. We are the only country in the world where UPI, ONDC are being fronted by global giants. Whether it is Meta, Google or Amazon, they all use our technology. Why should we shy away from saying we are innovation-led? What we have to do is change gears,” said Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
“We should applaud ourselves. We have gained capital, skills, mentorship, and talent. A lot of capital has been generated by the success of Round 1. In Round 2, we have to build on it and DeepTech and R&D have a major role to play. The number of these startups should go from 4,000 to 100,000,” said Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
The other esteemed panelists in the session were MeitY Startup Hub CEO Panneerselvam Madangopal, , IvyCap Ventures Founder & Managing Partner Vikram Gupta and Ideaspring Capital Managing Partner and Founder Naganand Doraswamy.
The panel concluded that India’s startup ecosystem, with the right support from the government and industry stakeholders, is well-positioned to drive innovation-led growth, ensuring a self-reliant and technologically advanced future.
“We should aim for a $1 trillion R&D-led innovation ecosystem as we progress toward a $10 trillion economy,” Digital India Foundation CEO Arvind Gupta further urged.
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