World's third biggest start-up ecosystem is in India, says President

President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday said that the world's third-biggest start-up ecosystem is in India.

"Today, the third biggest start-up ecosystem is in India. Under the Start-Up India, 27,000 new start-ups have been given recognition," said Kovind, while addressing the Joint Session of Parliament at the beginning of the Budget Session.

"Under MUDRA Yojana, five crore and 54 lakhs new entrepreneurs have taken loan across India. Under this scheme, more than Rs 10 lakh crore has been given as loan up till now," he said.

Start-up India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, intended to build a strong eco-system for nurturing innovation and Startups in the country that will drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities. The Government through this initiative aims to empower Startups to grow through innovation and design.

The Union Budget will be presented on Saturday. The first phase of the session will conclude on February 11, while the second part of the session will begin from March 2 to end on April 3.