India emerges as global hub for startups and innovation: Minister

Mumbai, Jan 19 India has emerged as a global hub for startups and innovation under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, has said.

After inaugurating India’s first-of-its-kind CSIR Mega ‘Innovation Complex’ in Mumbai and dedicated it to startups and industry stakeholders, the minister said “We are proud to be the third-largest start-up ecosystem in the world, with over 100 unicorns that stand as testaments to India's entrepreneurial spirit”.

“This remarkable growth is a reflection of the transformative initiatives and policies introduced by our government to empower the youth and drive economic self-reliance,” the minister noted.

The new ‘Innovation Complex’ is a huge state-of-the-art set up spread over nine floors, equipped with 24 “ready-to-move” incubation labs in addition to furnished office and networking spaces for innovative startups, MSMEs, industry, and CSIR labs.

The facility will provide high-end scientific infrastructure, expertise and regulatory support to stakeholders including CSIR labs, startups, MSMEs and industry, for the SOP-driven studies necessary for regulatory submissions and compliance.

“This inauguration is just the beginning. We are excited about the future potential and the immense contributions this Innovation Complex will make to India’s growth story,” said the minister.

The CSIR ‘Innovation Complex’ in Mumbai comes at a pivotal moment in India’s startup journey.

It will serve as a bridge between cutting-edge science and its application to address real-world challenges, thereby contributing to the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Dr Jitendra underscored the high-end scientific infrastructure and expertise designed to foster critical translational unmet needs (spanning lab-to-regulator and regulator-to-industry domains) for start-ups, MSMEs, and CSIR labs, while catalysing faster tech-transfer processes.

The complex will function as an innovation and incubation hub to support, collaborate, and partner in key industrial sectors such as healthcare (pharma, biopharma, medtech), chemicals, materials, energy, and other relevant areas of interest to CSIR labs.

—IANS

na/