The limits of unicorns

Start-ups cannot be a growth engine for the Indian economy

This may have been the second year of the global pandemic, but for start-ups in India, 2021 was golden. By some estimates, the number of unicorns in the country more than doubled over the year, with upwards of 40 start-ups crossing the billion-dollar valuation mark. Easy liquidity in the West, driven by loose monetary policy, helped induce investment in the sector; in July this year, for the first time since 2013, more venture capital investment poured into India than into China. In an economy shot through with gloom, the start-up sector provides a pinprick of hopeful light; the Economic Survey