The Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, has said that the youths of India have written success stories in the start-up ecosystem in the past seven-eight years.
Speaking at the 30th convocation of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) in Manipal on Friday, he said India lacked a start-up ecosystem prior to 2014, and there were only a few hundred start-ups.
Stating that things have changed in the last seven-eight years, he said the number of start-ups in the country has crossed 70,000 now. India now has more than 100 unicorns. He said these success stories have been written by the youths of India.
Referring to Satya Nadella, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, who is an old student of MAHE, the Minister said Nadella is now leading one of the major technology companies in the world.
He urged the students at the convocation to take up the lead and set up foundation for such companies in India to bring a transformative change in the country.
Stating that the quality and quantity of human capital are important for the development of the nation, he said India has a young population and it is time for the country to take benefit of this demographic dividend.
Youths, a valuable asset
Terming youths as a valuable asset of the country and engine for nation’s growth, he said they will play an important role in achieving the target of $5 trillion economy by 2025.
Citing the report of Morgan Stanley, he said India is all set to become the third largest economy of the world in the next five to six years. Terming this as a ‘once-in-a-generation shift’, the Minister said this is just the beginning, and India will become the largest economy of the world by 2047.
On India’s global image under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singh said India is now listened to with attention and seriousness on all international platforms.
India has been successful in garnering support to root out the menace of terrorism. The countries that use terrorism as a tool are now well aware of India’s capabilities. “India does not provoke any country, nor does it spare anyone who tries to harm its unity and integrity,” he added.