Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar today said that the policies of the Narendra Modi government have ushered in opportunities for young Indians to create global standard innovations and enterprises.

“Today, opportunities for Young Indians are limitless. India today has a vibrant startups ecosystem with over 90,000 startups created by young entrepreneurs, of which 110 are unicorns,” the Minister said, while addressing students at CHRIST (deemed to be university). He was speaking on the topic “Unravelling India’s entrepreneurial spirit”.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the Narendra Modi government’s focus has been on strengthening the innovation, entrepreneurship, and startup ecosystem through ease of doing business policies and helping youth innovators. “India is on the move and India is changing,” he stressed.

Speaking about India’s ambition of becoming an electronics and semiconductor hub, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said India has come a long way since 2014 when it was mostly a consumer and importer of technology and electronics goods. “Earlier we used to import 82 per cent of the mobile phones used in India. Today we manufacture 100 per cent of our phones. Earlier, India was more a IT/ITEs hub. Post 2014, our digital economy strategy has helped us expanded the pie and add various layers like consumer tech, electronics, AI, blockchain and our aim is to make India a leading electronics manufacturing player.”

He said India’s first semiconductor fabrication unit will soon come up in the next one and half years. “An announcement regarding this will come up in a few days,” he said.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar while explaining why India in the last few years has drawn the attention of the world, said, “Earlier the notion about India was that of a poor nation with a dysfunctional democratic system. This view stands dispelled today. India today is the fifth largest economy in the world and will go on to become the third largest soon. This year we will be the largest spending country on infrastructure, with an amount of Rs 13 lakh crore. A resurgent, confident young India is excelling and marching towards the India Techade goals,” the Minister said.

Stack components like the Aadhar, Cowin, DigiLocker etc. have ensured maximum governance. Direct benefits transfers ensuring no leakages, catalysing impact of UPI, administering of 2,2 billion Cowin vaccinations, and registering of highest ever tax collections are among the key achievements brought in by the use of technology he added.

“India in the last few years has shown that democracies can deliver, democracies can succeed, and democracies can carry out good governance,” the Minister said.
After his address, Rajeev Chandrasekhar had an interactive session with the students where he addressed questions pertaining to his professional journey, the proposed Digital India Bill, the evolution of India’s digital economy among others.