Rapidly expanding startups offer alternatives to conventional livelihoods: Minister

New Delhi, Feb 3 (PTI) India's startup journey has expanded rapidly increasing from a few hundred a decade ago to over two lakh now, creating large-scale employment and offering alternatives to conventional salaried livelihoods, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday.

While addressing annual Atal Innovation Incubator Conclave "AIM SUMVAAD", the minister also said the Union Budget 2026–27 provides a strong push to India's startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem, with special emphasis on incubation, innovation, and women-led economic participation.

He said the introduction of enabling frameworks for startups, biomanufacturing and the concept of self-help entrepreneurs among women reflects the government's evolving approach towards inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), under NITI Aayog, Government of India, organised AIM SUMVAAD, its flagship annual incubator conclave.

"What began with just 350 startups has today expanded into a vibrant ecosystem of over 2 lakh startups, generating more than 21,000 jobs, and driving a fundamental shift in national mindset where livelihood is no longer limited to government employment but increasingly driven by innovation and entrepreneurship," Singh said.

The minister said the idea of structured innovation received decisive political support after 2014, enabling large-scale initiatives such as Atal Tinkering Labs and startup-focused policy interventions.

He said nearly 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs are now operational, ensuring widespread access to innovation infrastructure across districts, including smaller towns and rural regions.

The growing participation of schools and non-government stakeholders reflects a deep-rooted change in mindset towards innovation, he added.

On the launch of the National Incubator Assessment Framework, Singh said that it will evolve into a centralised digital national repository, enabling transparency, benchmarking, and peer learning across India's incubation ecosystem.

Reinforcing the link between productivity, startup-led innovation, and India's long-term vision, Suman Bery, Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog, stated that India can and needs to grow faster to attain Viksit Bharat 2047.

"It is only by increasing productivity, supported by startup-led innovation, that we can achieve this collective goal," he added.

CEO of NITI Aayog, B V R Subrahmanyam, highlighted the transformative role of the Atal Innovation Mission in India's innovation journey.

"AIM, in my opinion, is anything that promotes innovation — without which the transition of India will not happen. The beauty lies in the fact that it spans across all layers: schools have ATLs, colleges have AICs, communities have ACICs, and at the global stage there is an international network," he said.

Highlighting the strategic importance of incubators and deep-tech in India's growth trajectory, Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, emphasised the evolving role of incubators as critical national infrastructure.

"If India has to become a developed nation, we should have 30 per cent deep-tech startups. In this journey, AIM is an important forum on a mission for innovation," he said.

With over 5,000 startups incubated and over 50,000 jobs created, AIM supported incubators represent a cornerstone of India's innovation economy. PTI NKD HVA