STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said here on Sunday that J&K’s StartUp potential is yet to be fully explored.
Addressing a Volunteers and Influencers Meet organised by the Social Media department of Jammu & Kashmir BJP, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the StartUp movement picked up relatively late in J&K but will move faster in the years to come.
The meet was also addressed by BJP J&K Working President Sat Sharma, CA. Abhijeet Jasrotia, Social Media Incharge, Ankit Gupta Social Media Head also spoke on the occasion while Manjeet Jasrotia, Social Media Co-Incharge was on the dias. Nitish Mayan conducted the programme.
Giving credit to Prime Minister Modi, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it was he who created awareness of this concept when he gave a call of “StartUp India, StandUp India” from the ramparts of the Red Fort. The result of this was that the number of StartUps which were just 350 to 400 in 2014 has gone upto to more than 1.5 Lakh today and India is rated number 3 in the world in the StarUp Ecosystem.
Referring to Jammu & Kashmir, Dr Jitendra said, here the process took off only five years back, particularly after the abrogation of Article 370, and from the number of 30 StartUps, it has gone up to 350 to 400.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the world today is recognising the youth potential of India and in the Global Innovation Index it has risen from Position 81 to 40. He said, this proves that there is no dearth of talent in the Indian youth but what they were lacking was an enabling milieu which is expected from the policy makers and political dispensation and this was provided after Prime Minister Modi came in 2014.
Dr Jitendra said, the best example of the quantum upsurge that took place because of the patronage provided by the Modi government in the Space Sector where there was single digit StartUp and today we have gone up upto about 200 particularly after the space sector was opened up to the private sector and some of our StartUps in the space sector today are rated as world class.
Similarly, he said, in the Biotechnology sector, we were only 50 StartUps in 2014, we have now gone up to more than 6000. He said, this is important because the next industrial revolution in the world is going to be Bioeconomy driven and India with its vast bio resources will have to play a major global role. In this context, he credited Prime Minister Modi for having recently given a node to the Cabinet decision to come out with BioE3 policy in India.
Dr Singh said, in the first 100 days of Modi 3.0 government also, Rs. 1000 Crore has been earmarked for StarUps and more than Rs 2600 Crores to make industrial notes.
As far as Jammu & Kashmir is concerned, Dr Jitendra said, it is for the first time that the mines and Himalayan resources are being explored in the last few years under the Modi government. In this context, he made a special mention of the Purple Revolution and the Lavender Agri StartUps originated from Bhaderwah which found a mention in Prime Minister Modi’s address during the public rally in Doda. He said, it is only in the last few years that the vast stores of Lithium mines and Sapphire mines in J&K are being planned to be explored.
Dr Jitendra said, the value addition of India when it rises from fifth position to higher position will be done by the hill States like Jammu & Kashmir. Therefore, he said, Jammu & Kashmir has to play an important role in India’s ascent to the 2047 pedestal.
The Minister called upon the young influencers to study these emerging avenues and translate them into effective versions to influence youth who comprise more than 70% of India’s population today.
