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Startups In India
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said the Centre's Semicon Mission 2.0 will focus on bolstering deep tech startups, prioritising the creation of a design ecosystem and getting equipment manufacturing and design facilities in the country. Addressing the inaugural session of the Gujarat Semiconnect Conference 2026 here, the Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology said that a talent gap of 20 lakh in the semiconductor sector will create huge opportunities for students. "Semicon 2.0 will be totally the reverse of Semicon 1.0, which focused on getting manufacturing facilities in India. We got that. We have 10 plants, with the first starting commercial production yesterday. Very soon, the second plant will start commercial production," he said. Vaishnaw said that the top priority for Semicon 2.0 - the second phase of India's Semiconductor Mission - will be to create a "design ecosystem", so that deep tech startups get the opportunity to develop the next ...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday discussed the potential of harnessing artificial intelligence technology in various sectors like agriculture, environmental protection, and promoting higher education in mother tongue, among others, with CEOs of AI and deeptech startups. CEOs and founders of 16 AI and deeptech startups presented their ideas and work at a roundtable meeting with the prime minister. Modi underscored the need for strong data governance, cautioned against misinformation, and urged the development of solutions tailored to India's needs, said a statement from Prime Minister's Office. Referring to UPI as a model of simple and scalable digital innovation, he expressed confidence in Indian companies and encouraged trust in domestic products. He also spoke about expanding private participation in the space sector and noted strong investor interest in Indian startups. Modi discussed the potential of harnessing AI technology in various sectors like in agriculture and ...
Regulatory sandboxes are necessary to ensure that startups and other players can build things in a controlled environment within the guardrails without stifling innovation, a senior official at the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) said on Monday. Speaking at a session at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in the national capital, IFSCA's Chief Technology Officer Joseph Joshy also said he would look at the things through the regulatory lens. The five-day summit -- which will see a host of heads of state and government, overseas representatives and industry players, among others -- commenced on Monday. "We need to ensure that there are regulatory sandboxes among regulators so that there are guardrails... (so that) before regulations come startups and others can build things in a controlled environment so that you don't stifle innovation and that you encourage it within the guardrails," Joshy said. Joshy is also the Chief General Manager as well as Head of FinTe
India has emerged as the world's third-largest startup ecosystem, with over 2 lakh recognised startups driving innovation and job creation across the country, former President Ram Nath Kovind said on Sunday. At the same time, more than 100 startups have achieved the unicorn status, he said at an event hosted by Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO). With global leaders and technology voices converging for the AI Impact Summit, he said this impressive global ranking and the sheer number of high-value startups reflect the innovation, job creation, and world-class enterprises emerging from every corner of India. Speaking to investors and mentors at ILLUMIN8, JITO's national startup initiative, Kovind said, "Business and values are not opposites, but partners. Profit and purpose must move forward together". Jain principles reflect a deep understanding that a society that focuses only on profits but neglects values may advance for some time, but it will gradually lose its way, he
Industry body Nasscom hopes that the Union Budget will extend Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) tax deferment to more startups and bring suitable clarifications to address concerns around the tax treatment of foreign cloud use of Indian data centres. The association - whose members include IT companies and tech players across-the-spectrum, of varying size and scale - wants the Budget to clarify that procuring hosting or co-location services from an Indian data centre operator would not create a business connection or permanent establishment for the foreign cloud service provider, as the arm's length payments to the Indian player fully cover India-based functions. ESOP tax deferral for more start-ups is another proposal highlighted by Nasscom in its Budget push, as is the extension of the carry-forward and set-off of accumulated losses and unabsorbed depreciation benefits in case of amalgamation or merger to all companies (irrespective of their business nature). Other suggestions ...