New Delhi, Jan 28: The Union Minister of Culture, Tourism and the Development of the North Eastern Region, Shri G Kishan Reddy attended the Inception Meeting of the G-20 Start-up 20 Engagement Group at the Taj Krishna in Hyderabad today.
The meeting was also attended by the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Shri Som Prakash, Sherpa of the G-20, Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog, Shri Parameshwaran Iyer.
The officers from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and delegates from the G-20 nations, special invitees from the observer countries, representatives from various multilateral organisations and the Global and Indian startup ecosystem were also present.
Addressing the delegates and the participants under the theme ‘Innovating for Amrit Kaal, India @ 2047’, he said, “True to its theme, this G-20 under India’s presidency aims to set the course for acting responsibly, aiming for joint cooperation and achieving and sharing our successes.”
Shri G Kishan Reddy also spoke about the start-up ecosystem in India. He said “India is the ideal location for today’s start-up engagement group as we have close to 85,000 registered start-ups with 100 plus unicorns at a combined valuation of $350 billion dollars. With the third highest number of unicorns in the world, it is only a matter of time before India leads this list”.
Through our start-ups, our youth wants to become job creators instead of being job seekers. Our startups are innovating, investing and inventing new products and experiences.
The success of our startups ecosystem symbolises the passion, progress and the priority of the government in encouraging and hand holding these startups. Our large talent pool and our demographic dividend makes India an ideal investment location”, he added.
After the event, Kishan Reddy also tweeted “During my address to the delegates, spoke of our rich & cherished traditions & culture of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ & ‘Vasudaiva Kuthambakkam’, & about the digital journey of India through transformational reforms under the visionary leadership of PM Sh @NarendraModi.
While addressing the meeting, Shri G Kishan Reddy also spoke about the various initiatives taken by the Government of India in fostering a vibrant innovation and start-up Ecosystem.
Shri. Reddy spoke about the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) Scheme that was established with a corpus of $ 1.25 Billion dollars (Rs 10,000 crore) and has catalysed approximately $ 1.75 billion dollars (Rs. 13,500 crores) of investments He also spoke about the Government’s Startup India Seed Fund Scheme that has approved $ 60 Million Dollars (Rs. 455.25 crores) for 126 incubators. Reddy attributed India’s jump of 41 places in the Global Innovation Index in the last 7 years to the untiring efforts of the Government of India.
The Union Minister, Shri G Kishan had previously written an Op-Ed in a leading English Daily on India assuming the G-20. In the article he wrote about how India’s presidency allows the world to focus on the 4Ds: De-escalating conflicts, Digitalisation, Development which will be equitable and inclusive and Decarbonisation to fight the climate crisis.
Further connecting these thoughts at the meeting, the Union Minister said, “Startups will play a key role in leveraging the 4-Ds that India is offering. With vibrant democracy, development, digital public infrastructure and decarbonisation with opportunities in green, hydrogen and renewable energy we have the potential to emerge as the 3rd largest economy and innovation will be one of our levers”.
Further he added, India is home to rich living cultural heritage and I invite all the delegates to explore this great land during your stay. Our government is taking steps to ensure that all of you have a complete and a holistic experience of India, like never before. They are working closely with the G-20 Sherpa in ensuring you all experience the local culture, cuisine and art and crafts of our country.
With this Start-up engagement group I would also invite startups to help us find innovative solutions and new ideas in preserving our rich cultural heritage and guiding us through the use of new technologies in providing an immersive experience to our tourists.
India assumed the G-20 presidency on December 1st 2022 for a period of 1 year. In this period, India would be hosting close to 1 Lakh delegates from 20 G-20 Countries and 9 Observer nations. More than 200+ meetings will be held across 56 locations of the country.
Hyderabad is hosting the Inception meeting of the G20 Startup20 Engagement Group. The StartUp20 Side Meeting and the StartUp20 Summit Meeting are scheduled to be held in Gangtok and Gurgaon respectively later in the year.
