New Delhi– India’s startup ecosystem continued its rapid growth, with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade listing 2,01,335 startups for incentives under the Startup India initiative, generating more than 21 lakh jobs nationwide, according to a year-end review released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Wednesday.
The ministry said that in keeping with the spirit of Nari Shakti, women entrepreneurs have played a major role in the country’s evolving startup landscape. More than 48 per cent of recognised startups in India now have at least one woman director.
The review highlighted that domestic patent filings by Indian innovators grew by 425 per cent between 2014 and 2024, while India’s rank in the Global Innovation Index improved to 38th in the GII 2025 ranking.
The Open Network for Digital Commerce, designed to democratize e-commerce, is expected to expand digital access, encourage innovation, and create benefits across the entire value chain. ONDC has processed over 326 million cumulative orders as of October 2025, with 18.2 million orders handled in that month alone and average daily transactions reaching approximately 590,000.
The One District One Product initiative aims to boost balanced regional development by identifying, branding, and promoting one key product from each district. More than 1,240 products have been selected across 775 districts.
The review also underscored the significance of PM Ekta Malls, which offer capital assistance to states for creating Unity Malls to promote ODOP products. Of the 27 states whose detailed project reports have been approved, 25 have issued work orders, and construction has begun in most of them.
To improve ease of doing business, more than 47,000 compliances have been reduced and 4,458 provisions decriminalized. The National Single Window System has granted 8,29,750 approvals so far.
As part of India’s efforts to strengthen manufacturing and exports under the Aatmanirbhar vision, Production Linked Incentive schemes have been launched for 14 key sectors with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore. Actual investments of over Rs 1.88 lakh crore had been realized by June 2025, resulting in incremental production exceeding Rs 17 lakh crore and creating over 12.3 lakh direct and indirect jobs.
The PLI schemes have generated exports of more than Rs 7.5 lakh crore, with major contributions from electronics, pharmaceuticals, telecom and networking products, and food processing.
Launched in October 2021, the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity integrates planning across ministries to reduce silos and improve infrastructure decision-making. A total of 57 ministries and departments have been onboarded.
Similarly, the Unified Logistics Interface Platform, developed under the National Logistics Policy, serves as a digital layer that breaks data silos and enables seamless exchange among logistics stakeholders. ULIP has been integrated with 44 systems across 11 ministries. (Source: IANS)
