India has 100 unicorns with a value at $250 billion: Nirmala Sitharaman

Chennai: India was home for over one hundred unicorns with a total value of $250 billion which have managed to raise over $63 billion in the last few years, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said here on Saturday.

Nearly 25 percent of the start-ups in the Silicon Valley were managed by people of Indian origin and it was a matter of pride, she said at an event here.

The start-up eco-system was built well in the country and all the one hundred unicorns were valued at $250 billion and have managed to raise over $63 billion from the capital markets, she said addressing new graduates at the 10th Convocation of the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design, and Manufacturing, Kancheepuram near here.

“I am saying all these things because, even as you graduate from here, you all can become entrepreneurs and create jobs for others. It is not a world where entrepreneurship is worrisome or entrepreneurship has risks. It may have had the risks, (but) it is possible for you all to become entrepreneurs yourself,” she said.

“Twenty-five percent of the start-ups in the Silicon Valley are managed by people of Indian origin. So for every one of who is looking at Silicon Valley, you could actually lift your collars in pride that 25 percent of all the start-ups there are managed by Indians,” she added.

“I am sure many of you all have your sights already on Silicon Valley,” she said.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan, and Jai Anusandhan’, Sitharaman said the slogan was no more with Jai Jawan and Jai Kisan, it has been added with ‘Jai Vigyan (technology) and Jai Anusandhan (innovation)’.

“In the last two (Jai Vigyan and Jai Anusandhan) your contribution will get recognised and that is what going to take India technology savvy and advanced country in 2047 at 100 years of Independence,” she said.

“I would say each and every one of your contributions is what is going to make it possible for India to reach and achieve advanced economy status by 2047 for which several steps the government has already taken,” she said.