The term entrepreneurship is derived from the French word ‘entreprendre’ that means ‘to do something’ or ‘to undertake’. Gradually, the term began to be used to refer to someone who undertakes a business activity. It has become a buzzword of the 21st century. And indeed, the spirit of entrepreneurship in an economy is often regarded as the benchmark of economic development.
An entrepreneur is a risk taker who finds opportunities in economic activities that often changes the lifestyle of a society for the better. Indians have had an entrepreneurial spirit since ages. This has grown from strength to strength over the years. Some renowned entrepreneurs that have shaped modern India are G.D Birla, Ardeshir Godrej, Govindram Seksaria, Jamshetji Tata to name a few. Besides there were enterpreneurs like N.R Narayanmurth, Azim Prem, Dhirubhai Ambani, Nusli Wadia etc. have carried on India’s entrepreneurial journey through the 1980s and 1990s.
In the past decade we have seen a steady rise in the entrepreneurial eco-system of India. In 2003, India has been ranked 4th out of 51 countries in having quality entrepreneurship by Global entrepreneurial monitor (GEM) report 2023. The growing culture of entrepreneurship heralded by risk taking youngsters with positive government policies like Make in India, Start-Up India and the year on year growing middle class base has brought about a start up boom.
The start-up statistics of India is very encouraging. As per the Economic Survey 2022-23 start-ups went up to 84012 from 452 in 2016. Therefore, a many fold rise in the number is observed displaying a very positive trend. Indian startups recognized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) have created over 9 Lakh direct job opportunities since 2017, the Economic Survey 2022-23. India is also home to 107 unicorns with a total valuation of $ 340.79 Bn. India has emerged as the 3rd largest ecosystem for startups globally (after US and China) with over 77,000 recognized Startups as of 2022. Here it is important to know the term ‘unicorn’ start up , it stands for a privately held startup company with a value of over $1 billion. According to the Global Unicorn Index 2023 by Hurun, Swiggy, a foodtech platform, Dream11, a fantasy gaming company, and BYJU’S are India’s top unicorns.
Thus, we can conclude that India has a very encouraging entrepreneurial eco-system and therefore there is hope for many more ideas to be converted to profitable and sustainable business ventures.
Dr Sarmistha Sarma
Professor of Business Studies
IITM (Affiliated to GGSIP University)
New Delhi, India