The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), Government of India's policy think-tank, has been the driving force behind the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, currently taking place in Hyderabad.
This is the first time that Hyderabad has hosted the GES. Over 1500 entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem players from across the globe have attended GES.
Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog spoke to The News Minute about the success of GES and what the government will do to encourage innovation in India.
How has the response to GES 2017 been?
The response has been overwhelming with around 2,000 delegates and 253 panel discussions which were all packed. Great networking as you're seeing and great pitching contests. The top investors of the world are here.
Young entrepreneurs have got a chance to meet, interact and learn from human experiences - what are the great things happening around the world and they can benefit from each other.
Hyderabad-based startup incubation centre T-Hub, a brainchild of the Telangana government, has come into the spotlight for building the startup ecosystem in Hyderabad.
Is NITI Aayog and the government looking to replicate this success in other states?
This is something that the states must do and they must drive it.
Through the Atal innovation mission, we support a lot of Tinkering Labs in schools. We are disrupting the school education system right now, giving them robots, 3D printers. We have also supported about 90 incubation centres through Atal. We will continue the support, innovation and disruption.
The funding scenario in India has seen a lull in the last two years. How has the government helped entrepreneurs access capital for their businesses?
There's never been a lull. There has been a huge amount of funding that has gone into startups and that has increased over the years. There's never been a shortage.
The government has created a fund of funds of Rs 10,000 crore. We need many more startups, many more ideas, many more entrepreneurs and funds are never a shortage for good business ideas.
Post GES, will the government continue to hold such summits to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship?
We will do many more events all the time. That's the way to drive business, to drive tourism, to drive networking and one-to-one businesses.