India’s startup ecosystem has generated nearly 24-25 lakh jobs over the last decade, while the number of startups has risen from around 350-400 to nearly 2.3 lakh, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday, 13 June.
Speaking at the RISE Conclave 2026 in Bengaluru, Singh said India has become the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, reflecting the country’s shift towards an innovation-led economy.
The conclave was held under the theme “Innovation & Entrepreneurship Driven Growth for Viksit Bharat 2047” and brought together researchers, industry representatives, startups, entrepreneurs, investors, scientists and academic institutions.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Singh said the Startup India initiative launched in 2015 helped turn entrepreneurship into a national movement and created a more supportive environment for innovation-led careers.
He said reforms in strategic sectors had opened new avenues for private participation and helped India use its demographic strength to build a wider innovation ecosystem.
Singh said more than 50% of Indian startups are now emerging from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, showing that entrepreneurship is no longer limited to metropolitan centres.
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The minister said the RISE Conclave was designed to bring together four pillars – research, industry, startups and entrepreneurship – on one platform to support collaboration among scientists, industries, investors, academia and policymakers.
Highlighting the aerospace innovation ecosystem, Singh said mach33.aero, India’s first public-private aerospace incubation centre set up by CSIR-NAL with its partners, has completed five years of operations and incubated 34 startups.
More than 125 startups are participating in RISE Conclave 2026, many from the aerospace sector, which the minister said reflected growing confidence among young innovators in high-technology areas.
Singh said such collaborations between startups and scientific institutions could create wealth and employment and may lead to the emergence of new unicorns in the coming years.
He said India has expanded private-sector participation in areas that were underexplored earlier, including space, biotechnology, deep ocean exploration and nuclear energy.
The minister also referred to India’s progress in innovation rankings, patent filings by Indian residents and the presence of Indian research papers among globally cited publications.
On emerging technologies, Singh said the National Quantum Mission, launched with an eight-year roadmap, had achieved several milestones ahead of schedule, while the IndiaAI Mission was creating opportunities in computing infrastructure, data ecosystems, innovation and future skills.
He said the success of RISE should be measured through concrete outcomes such as technologies licensed from laboratories, startups incubated, investments secured, industry collaborations, products commercialised and jobs created.
The Bengaluru edition of RISE Conclave 2026 included discussions on aerospace technologies, artificial intelligence for societal transformation and agri-food innovation, along with exhibitions, industry interactions and technology transfer agreements.
Singh said India’s road to Viksit Bharat 2047 runs through laboratories, industries and the startup ecosystem, driven by the aspirations and capabilities of the country’s youth.
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