The three day Startup Mahakumbh, one of the biggest events showcasing the startup ecosystem, began at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi today. This startup event aims at connecting startups with a spectrum of inventors including venture capitalists, investors and potential corporate partners.

Speaking at the event, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, DPIIT Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said, there are over one lakh Startups in the country as of now, which were only 300 when the Startup  India initiative was launched in 2016.

He said, India is the third largest Startup ecosystem in the world and there is a presence of Startups in 670 districts of the country. He said, over 50 per cent of Startups are from tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

Highlighting the importance of Deep Tech and Research and Development in the Startup, Mr Singh said, a separate dedicated Deep Tech Startup policy will be finalized in coming months. He also informed that that DPIIT has recently launched Bharat Startup Ecosystem Registry collaborating data from all the stakeholders to create synergy between Startups in terms of productive economic activities.

Speaking on the occasion, India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said that since the launch of Startup India scheme, remarkable growth has been witnessed in the number of Startups in the country. He said, the ecosystem has created over one million jobs in the last eight years and over 10 million indirect jobs. He said, India is the third largest Startup ecosystem in the world and becoming the number one is a big task.

Akashvani correspondent reports that sector-specific pavilions including Artificial Intelligence, B2B, Agritech, Deep Tech, Climate Tech, Gaming, E-sports, Fintech have been set up at the Bharat Mandapam.

More than two thousand startups, thirty thousand future entrepreneurs, fifty thousand business visitors, thousands of investors and over five hundred incubators and delegations from ten countries are taking part in this mega event.