We want the number of Unicorns in India to grow to 10,000 in the next five to six years: Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister for Electronics

Hyderabad, July 16, 2023: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is a workaholic. He works hard, works for long hours of the day.  It is difficult for many of us in the ministry to keep pace with him. Working with a workaholic PM like Modi is really tough.  He is a man in a hurry as far as the development of the nation is concerned said Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship while conversing in a fireside chat with Sanjay Lodha, Secretary JITO at JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation(JIIF)’s 6th Foundation Day celebrations and Investors’ Conclave at Hotel Westin at Madhapur on Saturday. The program continued late into the night. 

 
The Minister was the guest of honour on the first of the conference. The two-day conference began at T-Hub Madhapur in the morning and held Fireside Chat with the Minister at Hotel Westin, Madhapur on Saturday evening. The Minister was talking to a 400 plus gathering of JITO Members, Delegates of the JIIF Conclave, Investors, and Businessmen.  

 
We are aiming for a 5 Trillion US $ Economy by the year 2030. India is now the fastest-growing economy. You cannot be a misfit by being at your pace in catching up with the speed of the Prime Minister. You know I am working for a Prime Minister who is in a hurry in developing the nation. We will be the 3rd largest economy soon.  Soon we would be a developed nation, he said
 

Whatever progress we are able to achieve is because of the sincere efforts of the PM and all the citizens of the country.  Digitalisation is also helping us progress fast.  It used to contribute just 4 to 5% of GDP in 2014. By the time we achieve a 5 trillion economy, it will contribute 20% to GDP. It is India's Techade (Technology Decade) , said the Minister.
 

Speaking about progress on various fronts the Minister said we end up achieving what China did in 30 years and failed and could not achieve in Semiconductors.  China spent a lot of money in the last so many years in trying to create a semiconductor industry and what do they have today, he asked.  The country will have a semiconductor research centre soon. 
 

In the year 2014, when the Modi Government came into power, 82 to 86% of mobile phones used to be imported. Today in the year 2023, 99.999% of mobiles are manufactured domestically.  The exports were zero. Today rupees one lakh crore worth of Apple and Samsung phones are exported, he shared. Today we are the second largest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world, he added.
 
Union Minister Rajiv Chandrasekhar said that India’s semiconductor manufacturing will be an important milestone in the country’s development. The major investments have also come in.

 
The sector is moving forward with great work.  34 new start-ups have come up in this sector. A strategic India RISC-V project is also underway to develop next-generation Digital India RISC-V (DIRV) chips and systems. The goals are also to create 85,000 VLSI engineers globally with an eye to the future and introduce a semiconductor curriculum designed in partnership with global industry leaders. Semiconductor Research Facility will come up at Mohali.
 

Speaking about the startup ecosystem he said the country has now 1.2 lakh startups and 108 unicorns. Our aim is to see 10x growth in startups. We want the startup's number to grow to 25 lakhs in the next 5 to 6 six years.  At the same time, we want unicorns to go to 10,000 in number. And it is possible to achieve in the next 5 to 6 years. And our PM has this ambition that we achieve it.  That is why I said at the beginning of my conversation that our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is a man in a hurry as far as the development of the country is concerned, said Mr Rajeev.
 

The fireside chat was organised as part of JIIF's Investor Conclave and 6th Founders Day by JITO Hyderabad Chapter in collaboration with the TNAPTS Zone of JITO. It was attended by over 400 gatherings.