Modi blames previous regimes for not encashing IT revolution says start-ups grew exponentially post-2014

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Indore, May 13 (PTI) Targeting previous Congress governments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Information Technology revolution could not be encashed earlier as the youth were not given encouragement, and an entire decade was wasted due to scams and policy paralysis.
Because of the well thought out strategy of his government, the number of start-ups in India increased from 300-400 in 2014 to 70,000 in eight years, and now every eight or ten days a start-up turns into a unicorn by achieving valuation of more than Rs 7,000 crore, he said.
The prime minister was virtually addressing new entrepreneurs after launching the Madhya Pradesh government’s new start-up policy and an action plan.
“When our government came in 2014, the number of start-ups in the country was 300 to 400, and the talk about start-ups was confined only to industry corridors. But in a span of eight years, today there are 70,000 recognised start-ups in the country, and we have become the world’s third largest start-up ecosystem," he said.
"The youth of the country always have the will to find solutions to problems through innovative ideas, and we have experienced this even in the initial phase of the IT revolution. It was unfortunate that in that period our youth were not given the desired support and encouragement," Modi added.
The atmosphere created during the IT revolution (in the 1990s) needed to be given the right direction, but it did not happen, he said.
“We had seen that an entire decade got wasted in big scams, policy paralysis and nepotism, because of which the dreams of an entire generation got shattered. The youth of that period too had innovative ideas. But those ideas remained unimplemented because of the lack of proper government policies," the prime minister said.
Because of his government’s policy-based encouragement, the development of basic infrastructure and easy government procedures, there is a change in the mindset of the youth, and start-ups have become a part of daily conversation and a powerful medium to fulfil their dreams, he said.
Start-ups have grown in small cities and towns too, and are associated with more than 50 industries, Modi said, adding that new enterprises are coming up in agriculture, retail business and health sector.
Over 13,000 start-ups have been registered on the government's GEM portal and these new enterprises have done a business of Rs 6,500 crore through the portal, he said.
The prime minister appealed to entrepreneurs to encash opportunities in the areas of toy-making, mobile gaming, space technology, green energy, climate change, tourism and sports.
Under the new start-up policy of the Madhya Pradesh government, entrepreneurs will get a subsidy for rent for the workplace, employees’ salaries, product patent and also a quota for their products in government purchases, an official said.

The prime minister also launched the Madhya Pradesh government's new portal for start-ups.
Modi also interacted with some start-up entrepreneurs and asked them about their work.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan disbursed financial assistance to four entrepreneurs on this occasion to kickstart the implementation of the new start-up action plan.
To address various problems of the state, a “start-up innovation challenge” will be launched under which entrepreneurs will be given a subsidy of up to Rs one crore, he said.
Start-ups in the state have attracted a total investment of Rs 700 crore from January 26 till now, he informed. PTI HWP MAS
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)