Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday interacted with thousands of youngsters who have made it big in the startup sector and said it was the youth who had turned out to be the “job creators” of the nation.

The PM said the government was taking several steps to promote young entrepreneurs in the country, adding that startups were no longer confined to big cities. Smaller towns and villages too are emerging as vibrant startup centres, the Prime Minister said while interacting with young entrepreneurs from across the country, including cities like Dehradun, Guwahati and Raipur.

He also said along with Make in India, Design in India too was important for startups.

Describing India as a “youthful nation”, Modi said the government was committed to “harnessing of the demographic dividend”.

Through video conferencing on the NaMo app, the Prime Minister underlined that adequate capital, courage and connecting with people are required for excelling in the startup sector.

“Adequate capital, courage and connecting with people are required for excelling in the startup sector,” he said.

“There was a time when startups meant only digital and tech innovation. Things are changing now. We are seeing startup entrepreneurs in different fields,” he added.

He also said India had distinguished itself in the global startup eco-system.

“We in the government understand that youngsters may face shortage of funds for their startups. That is why a ‘fund of funds’ has been started by the government to facilitate more youngsters to innovate and ideate,” Modi added.

Modi added that there was a time when startups meant only digital and technology innovation but now things were changing and startups were coming up in various other fields, including agriculture.

“We have started an Agriculture Grand Challenge. We invite more youngsters to ideate on how to transform our agriculture sector,” he added.

The government has launched the Startup India Action Plan to promote budding entrepreneurs in the country. The plan is aimed at giving incentives such as tax holiday, inspector raj-free regime and capital gains tax exemption, Modi said.

“Our startups are growth engines. Today’s big companies were startups at some point. I urge the people of India to keep innovating,” he added.

He also said that the youth in India is now creating jobs and the government is committed to harnessing the demographic dividend.

Commenting on the issue of fund availability for startups, Modi said the government has created a Rs 10,000 crore Fund of Funds.

He also said startups can sell their products to the government and it has eased public procurement norms for them.

India has distinguished itself in the global startup ecosystem, the Prime Minister added.

(With agency inputs)