Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution Piyush Goyal recently chaired the first meeting of National Startup Advisory Council (NSAC). Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had constituted the National Startup Advisory Council to advise the government on measures needed to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities.

Besides the ex-officio members, the council has a number of non-official members, representing various stakeholders such as founders of successful startups, veterans who have grown and scaled companies in India, persons capable of representing interest of investors into startups, persons capable of representing interests of incubators and accelerators, representatives of associations of stakeholders of startups and representatives of industry associations.

In his inaugural address, Goyal said that this council shall act as the guiding light for many budding startup entrepreneurs in India. He said that this is the first time in our nation’s history where such a high-powered team of people from the private sector and the Government have come together, so that ‘You take your own policy decisions’.

Appreciating the work done by the startups in all sectors, for finding innovative solutions to various problems, Goyal said that India is hub of innovation & out-of-the-box thinking. He said that Startup movement has stirred entrepreneurial spirit in last 5 years. “We have witnessed tremendous efforts by stakeholders right from national to block levels towards the realization of our Hon’ble PM’s Startup India vision.”

Describing the Startups as the new champions of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Goyal said that we have the potential to become world’s largest and most innovative startup ecosystem. He said that the government has and will always be a supportive partner in charting progress of Indian startup ecosystem. Calling for making Startup India a symbol of national partnership and national consciousness, the minister stressed on the need to sow the seeds of entrepreneurship at school level to encourage students to innovate. He also called upon the successful entrepreneurs to take initiative to share their knowledge, experience, ideas and mentor students and youth. He said that there are innovative ideas with people in rural India, and Tier II and Tier III towns, waiting to be harnessed.

The minister said that it is our collective responsibility to realise the objectives of ‘Startup India: The Way Ahead’, which was launched by the Prime Minister in January this year. He said that this will help India reach a stage, where countries around the world would look to model their own startup ecosystems based on India’s achievements and will take ‘StartUp India’ to the Global Stage.

The minister said that the government is ready to act as an ‘Enabler rather than Regulator’. He said that collectively, we have to maximise our efforts to minimise the problems & make sure that India’s cost-effective solutions are made available to serve the needs of the poorest.

During the meeting, the participants gave many meaningful insights into the startup ecosystem, and gave ideas and suggestions as to how this can be strengthened further through various measures.