The startup revolution in India has turned into a nation-building instrument, from what was merely an economic phenomenon at one point in time. It has geared up to reshape how the country strengthens competence, creates bigger prospects, and instils confidence for the next century.
Going beyond sovereignty in defence or technology, the transformation from a global “back-office” to an “innovation architect” is now contributing to rebuilding national institutions, distributing opportunity, and embedding innovation into the everyday functioning of India.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ease-of-doing-business reforms have emerged as a capability-building machinery for Viksit Bharat 2047.
Strengthening the national shield
Startups have made a significant contribution to the defence sector through institutional resilience and industrial depth.
There has been a major transformation in defence from a closed, import-oriented sector into a distributed national manufacturing ecosystem with over 1,000 defence startups operating across the country, aiding procurement and problem-solving processes in the Armed Forces through iDEX.
With the integration of startups, there has been a significant rise in production in the defence sector, resulting in record-level exports.
A dramatic expansion has been recorded in the private sector participation with the issuance of 788 industrial licenses to 462 companies.
With more than 16,000 MSMEs integrated into the defence ecosystem, the private sector makes a significant contribution of 23% to India’s total defence production, as per the latest data.
Moreover, India is building an indigenous Quantum Positioning System (QPS) with the help of startups for the Indian Navy. This will end India’s dependency on foreign GPS.
It is important to note that India’s armed forces have started the installation of fully indigenous drone systems in place of foreign-component-heavy drones. This was apparent during Operation Sindoor, when Indian armed forces deployed drone systems designed and manufactured in India.
Furthermore, the Indian Army has inked a ₹168 crore contract with Bengaluru-based startup NewSpace Research & Technologies under iDEX for solar-powered surveillance drones.
Powering the nation’s nervous system
In the last decade, the number of Space and AI startups has increased from one in 2014 to 382 today, strengthening India’s sovereign space intelligence.
India’s first commercial satellite constellation, delivering world-leading hyperspectral imaging, was launched by Bengaluru-based Pixxel.
Now, the country is looking forward to the launch of GalaxEye’s Mission Drishti, which will stand as the world’s first multi-sensor Earth-observation satellite.
In a momentous move, the government has onboarded over 38,000 GPUs, offering subsidised access to startups at just ₹65 per hour.
Paving the way for core infrastructure
The government launched the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and the DLI scheme, unlocking innovation across agriculture, infrastructure, and governance.
The scheme allows startups like Netrasemi to secure funds of around ₹107 crore to develop chips for IoT applications.
Such measures empower local startups and businesses to collect, generate, store, publish and update geospatial data of the country but within its territorial boundaries.