95% entrepreneurial attempts fail in India; Debroy questions education system

A big question mark is whether the Indian education system facilitates entrepreneurship, says NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy

Doubting whether the Indian education system facilitates entrepreneurship, Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy today said that 95 percent of the entrepreneurial attempts fail in the country.

Speaking at the convocation of the International Management Institute (IMI) here, Debroy said that prime minister's initiatives of 'Startup India' and 'Stand-Up India' were not meant for the corporates, but for every Indian to flower, blossom and flourish.

"A big question mark is whether the Indian education system facilitates entrepreneurship. Nearly 95 percent of the entrepreneurial attempts fail in the country and the education system never teaches students to question," Debroy, who is also the chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the prime minister, said.

Debroy, an accomplished economist, said that the small farmer or the street vendor showed more entrepreneurship skills than corporates.

He said that India's per capita income at present was USD 1,800, which was very low compared to the developed countries.

Debroy said that in India, reforms started in 1991. "IMF brought out a report stating that for India, it will take 153 years to halve the gap in per capita income differences in comparison with the developed countries."

"However, the lesson for the last couple of decades show that there is no need to wait for 153 years. India's past had been glorious, future glorious, but cannot say anything about the present. Now we see the present blurring into the future.