Two Pune Startups Win National Awards, Maharashtra Top Performer Among States

New Delhi, 17th January 2024: Union Minister Piyush Goyal emphasizes the crucial role of startups in India’s path to development by 2047. Speaking at the Startup Awards & State Ranking Awards function in New Delhi, he commends the substantial progress made in the sector over eight years, transforming it from a novelty to an integral part of the national mainstream.

Goyal highlights the diverse contributions of startups in sectors such as MedTech, FinTech, AgroTech, aviation, drones, and simulators. He identifies tourism as an untapped area, encouraging startups to explore innovative ideas for sustainable tourism. Referring to the Prime Minister’s Wed-in-India initiative, he underscores the importance of New Age Skills, Futuristic Tech, AI, and Innovation.

Expressing confidence in the entrepreneurial spirit, Goyal urges individuals of all ages to actively participate in the startup ecosystem, emphasizing that age should not be a barrier to engagement and innovation. He notes India’s emergence as the third-largest global startup ecosystem, appreciating achievements in sectors like millets and food processing. Goyal encourages startups to focus on emerging areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and suggests simplifying processes for patent, copyright, and trademark protections.

Goyal outlines key initiatives to support startups, including categorization for focused interactions, data sanitization, and registration on the DPIIT portal. He calls for collaboration through the MAARG portal and emphasizes the simplified process for onboarding startups on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). Goyal announces the upcoming ‘Startup Maha Kumbh’ in March 2024 and assures continued government support for the startup ecosystem.

This edition’s ranking saw the highest-ever participation, with 33 States and UTs involved. A ‘National Report,’ ‘Compendium of Best Practices,’ and individual ‘State Report’ were launched, reflecting the entrepreneurial spirit. Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerela, Tamil Nadu topped category A, while Himachal Pradesh excelled in category B. Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana, Punjab led in Category A, and Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya in Category B. Participants were evaluated across seven broad Reform Areas, with 3102 startups receiving funding worth INR 392 crore, and 95 Capacity Building and Knowledge Exchange Workshops organized from August 2021 to December 2022. The evaluation included 25 Action Points and 15% of total scores based on 10,000+ survey responses in nine languages.

States Startup Ranking Framework 2022 Results

Category A States (Population more than 1 crore)

Category B States (Population less than 1 crore)

Annexure B

National Startup Awards 2023