Our goal is for India to lead the world in startup trends, technology in coming years: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India has full faith in the innovation and confidence of its startups, and added that the nation should lead globally in startup trends and technology in the coming decade.

A nation that is forward-looking on Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have a competitive advantage, Modi said. Speaking at a mega event marking a decade of the flagship programme 'Startup India', Modi asked the founders and entrepreneurs to work on new ideas and solve problems, all the while keeping a sharp focus on quality products.

"Our goal should be that in the coming 10 years, India will lead the world in new startup trends and technology," Modi said.

The PM said he has full faith in confidence, courage and innovation of startups and entrepreneurs in India, and noted that the nation's future is taking shape. He said the time has come for startups to also focus on manufacturing and research. Today's research becomes tomorrow's intellectual property, the PM said.

On the India startup success story, Modi said several schemes have been rolled out to provide seed fund to startups, while outdated rules have been done away with.

"We have removed outdated rules and trusted innovators," he said.

Startup India was launched on January 16, 2016, as a transformative national programme to nurture innovation, promote entrepreneurship and enable investment-driven growth, with the objective of making India a nation of job creators rather than job seekers.

On Friday, at the programme marking a decade of the Startup India initiative, PM also interacted with founders of India's vibrant startup ecosystem.