Perception about entrepreneurship on rise in India: GEM report

The perception about entrepreneurship is on the rise in India due to the central government's policies such as "Make in India" and "Startup India", among others, said a report on Tuesday.

The latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report on India for the financial year 2016-17 showed an increase in the rate of entrepreneurial intention to 14.9 per cent compared to 9 per cent in 2015-16, while simultaneously the fear of failure rate decreased from 44 per cent in 2015-16 to 37.5 per cent in 2016-17.

The report revealed that a comparison of India with its peers in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) economies suggests that perceived opportunity is the highest and perceived capability is the second highest among all.

Commenting on the readings of the survey, Sunil Shukla, GEM India Team Leader and Director, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII)-Ahmedabad said: "A macro comparison of all economies suggests that the entrepreneurial intention rate of India is close to the rate of innovation-driven economies, which is commendable."

"We believe that policies such as Make in India, Startup India, Stand up India, Skill India and Digital India are making India a favourable destination for doing business."

Shukla further said that potential entrepreneurs "see good opportunities" for starting a business and believe they have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience for the same.

"Individuals will assess the opportunity costs, risks and rewards of starting a business vs. other employment preferences and option, if available," Shukla said.

"In addition, the environment in which potential, intentional and active entrepreneurs exist needs to be sufficiently enabling and supportive."

The GEM survey is the largest annual study of entrepreneurial dynamics in the world. Sixty-two countries are part of GEM Consortium that researches on trends in entrepreneurship in these countries.

--IANS

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