NEW DELHI: Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has outlined a bold vision for India’s startup future, stating that the country is poised to have one million startups by 2035, a remarkable leap from just 2,000 in 2015.
Speaking at the Carnegie Global Tech Summit, Nandan Nilekani, who is founding Chairman of UIDAI (Aadhaar), said implementing AI at scale in India is built on an existing foundation of digital transformation that has happened for a decade.
“All startups have been solving some problems over the years.
The important thing is that we have a million of them. In 2015, we had about 2,000 startups. Today, we have 150,000 startups…we (will) have a million startups in 2035,” he said.
“They create a successful company. They go for IPO. All those guys have some options. Suddenly, one startup negates 100 more startups….So that cycle is now in full play. Which problems they will solve…they will solve problems in climate, in energy, in space,” he added.
He explained the powerful momentum behind India’s entrepreneurial surge, crediting a “virtuous cycle” that fuels continuous innovation.
“India’s space story is a fabulous public narrative,” he noted, pointing to the increasing role of private innovation in historically state-led sectors.
He also outlined the growth of India’s digital public infrastructure.
“April 4th, 2016, Aadhaar reached 1 billion
demonetization.