Delhi, 15 January (H.S.): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a landmark event on Friday, January 16, commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Startup India initiative at Bharat Mandapam here, engaging directly with the nation's vibrant startup ecosystem representatives.

The Prime Minister's Office announced that Modi will interact with selected startup founders during the program, where they will share experiential insights and perspectives from their entrepreneurial journeys.

Launched by PM Modi on January 16, 2016, as a transformative national flagship, Startup India aimed to catalyze innovation, foster entrepreneurship, and pivot India from a job-seeking to a job-creating nation through investment-enabled growth.

Decade of Ecosystem Transformation

Over the past ten years, Startup India has emerged as a cornerstone of India's economic and innovation architecture, fortifying institutional frameworks, expanding access to capital and mentorship, and cultivating a conducive environment for startups across sectors and geographies.

The initiative has recognized over 200,000 startups nationwide, significantly contributing to employment generation, innovation-driven economic expansion, and fortification of domestic value chains in diverse domains. This milestone synchronizes with Modi's concurrent CSPOC address emphasizing democratic development dividends, including India's third-ranked global innovation and startup ecosystem.

Visionary Leap from Niche to National Powerhouse

From humble origins, the program has engineered explosive growth: formal recognition surged from nascent levels to exceeding a quarter-million entities, spawning unicorns, propelling India to the world's third-largest startup hub, and aligning with ascendant metrics like third-largest aviation market and vaccine production primacy highlighted in Modi's parliamentary remarks earlier Thursday.

As celebrations unfold—amid Maharashtra's civic poll-induced market holiday, World Bank's 7.2% FY26 GDP uplift, and Senegal's AFCON final charge—the event reaffirms Startup India's role in Viksit Bharat ambitions, with Modi exemplifying last-mile empowerment through policy-tech synergy.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar