Suresh Prabhu calls for greater role of startups in core sectors

India's Sherpa at G20 and former union minister for commerce Suresh Prabhu has said that more significant participation of new-age companies is required in core sectors for faster economic growth of the country.

Prabhu emphasised on providing startups a level playing field to contribute to the growth of the country, while speaking at Zetwerk Dialogues, a public advocacy program aimed at raising awareness about opportunities in India's manufacturing, infrastructure, and supply chain ecosystem.

He also recommended creating a process-driven transparent mechanism that can facilitate an enabling environment for the new-age companies.

"Startups are breaking away from the past. Regulations, if not always, are based on what has happened in the past. So, you are regulating the past while the start-up ecosystem is breaking away from the past. Therefore, that's a problem," Prabhu said.

Noting that regulations are necessary he said: "Don't bring them based on old ideas, but by interacting with the start-ups and understanding what they are trying to achieve."

The former minister emphasised the need for a transparent, participatory, and rule-based regime for start-ups and legacy companies to drive innovations and futuristic technologies.

Prabhu added that the Indian economy's rate of growth would get accelerated with India's vaccination drive picking up pace, which will revive businesses and, in turn the overall economy.

Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Zetwerk said: "By tapping into the country's existing capacity and capabilities, we intend to create a strong manufacturing network that not just boosts the MSME ecosystem of the country but can deliver projects in a time bound, reliable and efficient manner."

"With PLIs adding to the support from the government, we look forward to the next phase of evolutionary growth for the sector," he said.

--IANS

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