Startup India at 10: Big Numbers, Bigger Questions

In the next few weeks, India will quietly step into one of the most consequential anniversaries of its modern economic story—not because of what was launched a decade ago, but because of what must now be delivered. As 2025 gives way to 2026, four of the country’s most ambitious national missions—Digital India, Make in India, Skill India, and Startup India—will complete a decade.

On January 16, 2026, Startup India officially turns 10. Inside government corridors, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Startup India team is still debating how to mark the moment—whether to fold it into Startup Mahakumbh 2026 or design a standalone celebration that reflects how dramatically India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has evolved. 

The symbolism is hard to miss. Ten years ago, these missions promised to change how India connects, builds, learns, and innovates. Ten years later, they have done exactly that—at scale. What remains unresolved is whether scale has translated into depth. 

When India Chose to Leap, Not Crawl

In the mid-2010s, India made a deliberate choice to leapfrog rather than inch forward. Digital rails would replace paperwork. Factories would replace imports. Skills would unlock demographics. Startups would inject risk-taking into a system long allergic to failure. 

The early outcomes were unmistakable. India became a global reference point for digital public infrastructure. Manufacturing capacity expanded at a pace few had predicted. Millions of young Indians entered formal skilling pipelines. Governance itself began to change tone, with NITI Aayog nudging states into competition through transparent, data-driven indices. 

Beyond Earth, missions led by ISRO—from lunar landings to Mars exploration—quietly reinforced India’s reputation as a technology power that delivers, not just declares. 

The first decade was about building the system. The second will test whether that system works for everyone. 

Big Numbers, Bigger Questions

Digital India: A Global Model With Local Gaps

Digital India is, by most measures, the standout success of the decade. Internet connections rose from 25 crore in 2014 to over 96.96 crore by 2024. India now accounts for 49% of global real-time digital payments, driven by UPI-led adoption. BharatNet connected more than 2.18 lakh Gram Panchayats with optical fibre, while nearly ₹44 lakh crore in Direct Benefit Transfers rewrote welfare delivery by cutting out intermediaries. 

Yet beneath the global applause lies a stubborn divide. Only 24% of rural households have access to quality internet, compared to 66% in urban India. As millions come online, concerns around cybersecurity and data protection are rising faster than regulatory capacity. The rails are world-class; access to them is not. 

Make in India: Factories Rise, Jobs Lag

Make in India reshaped production. India went from just two mobile manufacturing units in 2014 to over 200 today, becoming the world’s second-largest mobile phone producer. Renewable energy capacity surged from 76.38 GW to 203.1 GW by 2024, placing India fourth globally. Defence production expanded, and the ₹76,000 crore Semiconductor Mission signalled a long-term industrial vision. 

But the employment dividend has proved elusive. Manufacturing’s share of GDP remains stuck at 17–18%, far below the long-stated 25% ambition. Even more telling, manufacturing employment declined from 12.6% in 2011–12 to 11.4% in 2022–23. Competing with lower-cost hubs like Vietnam and China continues to test India’s logistics, cost structures, and execution speed. 

Skill India & Governance: Training at Scale, Hiring at Risk

Skill India trained more than six crore Indians through skilling and apprenticeship programmes. ITIs were revamped, admissions increased, and stipends improved. In parallel, NITI Aayog’s SDG, health, water, and innovation indices quietly reshaped how states measure—and compare—performance. 

Still, industry feedback remains blunt. Nearly 60% of manufacturing firms struggle to find workers with the right technical and managerial skills. Outdated curricula, trainer shortages, weak industry linkages, and policy uncertainty—exacerbated by global shocks such as the Russia–Ukraine war—continue to dilute outcomes. Training happened. Matching did not.

Startup India at 10: Celebration or Course Correction?

Startup India was conceived as an enabler—cut compliance, unlock capital, legitimise risk. A decade later, India hosts one of the world’s largest startup ecosystems, deeply intertwined with Digital India’s infrastructure and Make in India’s ambitions. 

As January 16, 2026 approaches, the internal debate over how to celebrate the anniversary mirrors a larger strategic question. Is this a moment to applaud scale—or to reset priorities?

Whether the milestone is folded into Startup Mahakumbh 2026 or marked separately, the real challenge is philosophical: moving from valuation-led narratives to productivity, deep-tech, manufacturing, and job creation. The ecosystem is large. Its next test is relevance. 

From Platforms to Prosperity

India’s first reform decade built platforms—digital, industrial, institutional. The next must deliver outcomes. 

Persistent challenges remain: skill mismatches, rural infrastructure gaps, hunger and malnutrition despite economic growth, brain drain, and uneven policy execution across states. The tax-to-GDP ratio continues to lean heavily on indirect taxes, raising long-term equity concerns. 

The path forward is clear, even if execution is hard:

• Align government, industry, and academia to close skill gaps
• Invest decisively in rural digital and physical infrastructure
• Shift skilling to outcome-based models with real-time monitoring
• Address food security, workforce retention, and inclusive growth
• Reorient Startup India toward deep innovation and sustainable employment

Ten years ago, India chose transformation over caution. As its flagship missions and startup ecosystem turn 10, the question is no longer about ambition. It is about depth, delivery, and durability.

The next decade will decide whether India’s flagship missions remain impressive programmes of intent—or evolve into institutions that quietly and consistently power the country’s rise.