Number of startups in India cross 2.01 lakh, create over 21 lakh jobs

New Delhi: There has been a sustained growth of the startup ecosystem in the country with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) listing as many as 2,01,335 startups for incentives under the Startup India initiative which have created over 21 lakh jobs across the country, according to a year-end review released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Wednesday.

In the spirit of Nari Shakti, there has been a significant contribution of women entrepreneurs in the transformation of the Indian startup landscape, the ministry said in the review. More than 48 per cent of the recognised startups in India have at least one woman director.

It further highlights that domestic patent filings by Indian innovators increased by 425 per cent during 2014-2024, and India’s rank in the Global Innovation Index has improved to 38th in the GII 2025 ranking.

The review also states that the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which aims to democratise e-commerce in India, is expected to make digital commerce inclusive and accessible for all, unlock innovation for all players in the e-commerce ecosystem and bring out potential benefits for all stakeholders in the e-commerce value chain.

ONDC has processed a cumulative of 326 million+ orders as of October 2025. Further, in the month of October 2025, 18.2 million orders have been processed, and average daily transactions have reached approximately 5,90,000, the review states.

One District One Product (ODOP) initiative aims to foster balanced regional development across all districts of the country by selecting, branding, and promoting One Product from each District (One District – One Product) of the country. Over 1,240+ products have been identified across 775 districts.

The review underlines the importance of PM Ekta Malls, which provide capital assistance to states for the creation of Unity malls in all states to promote ODOP products. Of the 27 states whose DPR for PM Ekta Mall has been approved, 25 states have issued work orders, and construction has started in the majority of States.

In order to enhance the ease of doing business, more than 47,000 compliances have been reduced, and 4,458 provisions have been decriminalised. As many as 8,29,750 approvals have been granted through the National Single Window System so far.

The review further states that keeping in view India’s vision of becoming ‘Aatmanirbhar’ and to enhance India’s manufacturing capabilities and exports, Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes have been launched for 14 key sectors with an outlay of Rs. 1.97 lakh crore.

Actual investment of over Rs. 1.88 lakh crore has been realised till June 2025 across 14 sectors, which has resulted in incremental production of over Rs 17 lakh crore and both direct and indirect employment generation of over 12.3 lakhs.

PLI Schemes have witnessed exports exceeding Rs 7.5 lakh crore with significant contributions from sectors such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, telecom & networking products and food processing.

Launched in October 2021, PM GatiShakti (PMGS) is a National Master Plan (NMP) for multi-modal connectivity. It integrates infrastructure planning across multiple ministries (roads, railways, ports, aviation, inland waterways, energy, etc.) to reduce silos and avoid duplication. As many as 57 ministries and departments have been onboarded on the PMGS.

Similarly, the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP), developed under the National Logistics Policy, is a digital integration layer that breaks ministerial data silos and facilitates seamless data exchange among stakeholders across the logistics ecosystem. Currently, ULIP has been integrated with 44 systems of 11 ministries.

IANS