Over 32.5% Indian college students are nascent entrepreneurs: Report

More than 32.5 per cent of Indian students in Indian universities are "nascent entrepreneurs" and actively engaged in starting their businesses, a statement from IIT Mandi said on Monday.

As per the key findings of the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS) India 2023 Report, entrepreneurs actively are likely to be spurred by various policy initiatives in India, a statement issued here by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi on Monday said.

The report highlighting the rising entrepreneurial aspirations, career shifts to entrepreneurship and positive university entrepreneurship climate in India was led by Associate Professor, School of Management, (IIT Mandi) Dr Puran Singh and co-authored by Dharmender K Yadav, National Team Member and Doctoral Candidate, School of Management at IIT Mandi.

The statement said that the GUESSS is the largest global research project that involves a comprehensive survey on student entrepreneurs worldwide covering 57 countries and the project aims to study entrepreneurial spirit - intentions and activities of students across the globe.

Fourteen per cent of Indian students plan to become founders immediately after graduation compared to the global average of 15.7 per cent while 31.4 per cent of students intend to pursue entrepreneurship five years after graduating, compared to a global average of 30 per cent, the survey said.

The GUESSS India 2023 Survey conducted during November 2023-February 2024 which is the maiden survey of Indian students' entrepreneurial spirit received 13,896 student responses enrolled in hundreds of higher education institutions across India, the statement added.

The survey offers a detailed understanding of the entrepreneurial ambitions and strong representation of Indian students and provides a robust foundation for assessing the student entrepreneurship landscape in India.

Elaborating on the key findings of this report, Dr Puran Singh said, "We are already the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world with the largest youth population and harnessing youth's entrepreneurial potential would be pivotal to the country's growth."

He said that India has a strong entrepreneurial intent and the robust pipeline of nascent ventures, signals immense potential.

Indian students show the highest entrepreneurial intent globally, with an average score of 4.6 on a 7-point scale, significantly higher than the global average of 3.7 while the involvement of 38 per cent in venture creation with 33 per cent in the nascent stage, India was the highest among global peers, the report released on October 18, said.