Bengaluru, June 13 (IANS) India’s startup movement has emerged as a major driver of employment generation, creating nearly 24–25 lakh jobs over the last decade, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said on Saturday.

He noted that the country’s startup ecosystem, which comprised only around 350–400 startups about 10 years ago, has today expanded to nearly 2.3 lakh ventures, making India the world’s third largest startup ecosystem and reflecting its transition into a full-fledged innovation economy.

Addressing the ‘RISE Conclave 2026’ here, he said that many of the transformative changes witnessed in the country’s science and technology ecosystem can be traced back to the policy direction provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He noted that Prime Minister’s call for “Startup India” in 2015 laid the foundation for a vibrant entrepreneurial culture, while subsequent reforms opened new avenues for private participation in strategic sectors and encouraged young Indians to pursue innovation-driven careers.

He further added that these initiatives have helped build a supportive ecosystem that is enabling the country to harness its demographic dividend and emerge as a global innovation hub.

The Minister highlighted that the ‘RISE Conclave’ was conceived with the objective of bringing together the four pillars of Research, Industry, Start-ups and Entrepreneurship under one platform.

He said the initiative reflects the Government’s commitment to fostering collaborations among scientists, industries, investors, academia and policymakers to build a self-reliant and innovation-driven India.

Dr Singh said that the country’s first public-private aerospace incubation centre, ‘mach33.aero’, established by CSIR-NAL in collaboration with its partners, has successfully completed five years of operations and has incubated 34 startups.

He further noted that more than 125 startups are participating in the RISE Conclave 2026, many of them from the aerospace sector, reflecting the growing confidence of young innovators in high-technology domains.

—IANS

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