NEW DELHI, Mar 17 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit Startup Mahakumbh, a startup event starting on Monday, which is being held at a much larger scale, a senior government official said on Sunday.
While speaking at the curtain raiser event of StartUp Mahakumbh, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said that the government is playing a backseat kind of anchor for the three-day startup ecosystem event to be held in Pragati Maidan from March 18.
“We hope to get the Prime Minister to visit this event. Now that the election announcement has come, there are formalities … But we are still hopeful that we will be able to get him to this event,” Singh said.
The event is expected to host over 2,000 startups, 10 thematic pavilions, more than 1,000 investors, 300 incubators and accelerators, 3,000 conference delegates, over 20 country delegations, 3,000 future entrepreneurs from all Indian states, over 50 unicorns and more than 50,000 business visitors over a span of three days, the event organisers said.
“This event is over 100 times larger in scale than anything you have seen before. Policy dialogue will be a small part of the event. It is more about celebration, showcasing success etc. The government is playing a backseat kind of anchor for this event. In terms of specific pain points on the policy and regulatory side that the start-up community may have, I presume some of the recommendations could come out of this event,” Singh said.
The event is being jointly organised with collaborative efforts of ASSOCHAM, NASSCOM, Bootstrap Incubation and Advisory Foundation, TiE and Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA).
The event is also supported by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) and Invest India.
“We like to facilitate business and industry, sometimes from the front but often from the back. The idea is to facilitate, promote and this event showcases the fact that our start-up ecosystem has become one of the largest in the world,” Singh said.
DPIIT Joint Secretary Sanjiv said that 23 states are participating in the event.
“We have a SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) start-up forum which coincides with the event so that the whole world knows about the Indian ecosystem. One of our initiatives is to highlight Indian manufacturing start-ups. Anything that you can imagine as part of the start-up ecosystem, will be there at StartUp Mahakumbh,” he said.
Info Edge Co-Founder and Executive Vice Chairman, Sanjeev Bikchandani said that the present regime has played an instrumental role in the development of the startup ecosystem.
He said that the size, scale, inclusiveness and diversity will be unique things at StartUp Mahakumbh.
“The government of India has given a fund of funds (Rs 10,000 crore) and gave it to SIDBI to manage. That one single act of government altered the entire landscape. In 1992, I struggled to get a Rs 30,000 OD (overdraft) limit from a nationalised bank. I think the environment has completely changed. There is one difference in this government that when we call them up somebody picks up the phone and gives us a hearing,” Bikchandani said.
Rukam Capital Founding Managing Partner Archana Jahagirdar said there will be inclusivity and not just top down approach which will make a difference at StartUp Mahakumbh.
“Normally listed and unicorns get a lot of focus but here even a normal start-up will get access to several resources. Startup Mahakumbh is a celebration of all the startups who are innovating on behalf of India. We are delighted to provide them with the platform to engage, network, and showcase the work they have done to innovate for Bharat,” Jahagirdar said. (PTI )
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