National Startup Day 2026: PM Modi to Address 3,200+ Startups as Govt Bets Big on District-Level Entrepreneurship

India’s flagship startup celebration is set to return with renewed ambition and a sharper grassroots focus. PM Modi will address the National Startup Day 2026 celebrations on January 16 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, where the government is expected to lay out a fresh roadmap to deepen and democratise India’s startup ecosystem—right down to the district and block level.

The announcement was made by Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Secretary at the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), who said more than 3,200 startups from across sectors, stages and geographies will participate in this year’s flagship event. The Prime Minister has agreed to inaugurate the programme and is expected to articulate new goals around entrepreneurship, innovation, deep-tech and domestic manufacturing, reinforcing startups as a central pillar of India’s economic strategy.

A Decade of Startup India: From 400 to Over 2 Lakh Recognised Startups

National Startup Day 2026 comes at a landmark moment for the ecosystem. The Startup India initiative completes over 10 years this January, having been launched in 2016 with the objective of building a strong, innovation-led entrepreneurial economy.

When Startup India began, barely 400 startups were registered with DPIIT. A decade later, the numbers tell a very different story. As per official data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 209,378 startups are currently recognised by DPIIT, while the overall startup user base on the platform has crossed 6.67 lakh. Recognition under DPIIT unlocks a range of benefits for startups, including income tax exemptions, simplified compliance norms, faster patent processing and access to government-backed funding schemes.

Reflecting on the ecosystem’s evolution, Bhatia said startups have demonstrated consistent improvement across compliance, innovation output, fundraising and corporate partnerships. “Whether it is regulatory reforms, access to capital or collaboration with large enterprises, startups across India have delivered remarkable outcomes over the last decade,” he said.

Deep-Tech and Manufacturing Take Centre Stage

One of the core themes of National Startup Day 2026 will be the government’s intensified push towards deep-tech and manufacturing-led startups—areas seen as critical for India’s long-term competitiveness.

According to DPIIT, the government is actively working to connect R&D laboratories, academic institutions and research centres with the startup ecosystem to accelerate the commercialisation of advanced technologies. “We are linking R&D labs with startups and expect a significant rise in deep-tech ventures in the coming years,” Bhatia said, adding that both public and private capital is increasingly flowing into this segment.

On the manufacturing front, the focus is on building startups that can serve domestic supply chains while also scaling globally. The idea is to create a new generation of manufacturing-led startups capable of reducing import dependence, improving cost efficiencies and strengthening India’s export competitiveness.

Corporate Partnerships, Grand Challenges and Supply Chain Access

A major thrust of the Startup India programme is now centred on corporate–startup collaboration. DPIIT has signed multiple memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with leading companies to formalise engagement frameworks that allow startups to solve real-world industrial problems.

“Corporates can outsource specific challenges to startups and integrate their solutions into supply chains. This reduces costs for companies while giving startups direct market access,” Bhatia explained.

Over the past year alone, nearly 75 grand challenges were organised across sectors with corporate participation. These challenges have enabled startups to pilot solutions, secure procurement opportunities and, in some cases, scale up into long-term business partnerships—marking a shift from demo-driven engagement to outcome-driven collaboration.

Funding Support and a Resilient Ecosystem

Funding remains a critical backbone of the startup ecosystem, and DPIIT officials emphasised that support today extends well beyond government schemes. Under Startup India, three flagship initiatives—the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) and the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS)—continue to support startups across stages, from ideation to growth.

DPIIT Joint Secretary Sanjiv highlighted the resilience of India’s startup ecosystem, noting that only around 6,400 startups, or roughly 3 per cent of the total recognised base, have shut down so far. This relatively low closure rate, he said, reflects improving maturity, better access to capital and stronger market linkages.

Awards, State Rankings and District-Level Expansion

As part of the National Startup Day 2026 celebrations, 20 startups from different sectors and regions will be recognised for innovation, scalability and impact. Each winning startup will receive a cash prize of ₹10 lakh, alongside national visibility and ecosystem support.

The government will also release updated state startup rankings, based on parameters such as incubation infrastructure, policy support, startup feedback and overall ecosystem performance. States are grouped and ranked across three performance levels, encouraging healthy competition and best-practice sharing.

Crucially, officials reiterated the Prime Minister’s vision of ensuring that every district and block in the country is connected to a functional startup ecosystem. “Work is underway to ensure 100 per cent district-level coverage, so entrepreneurship is no longer limited to metros,” the DPIIT joint secretary said.

Union Budget 2026–27: What Startups Are Watching For

With National Startup Day coming just weeks ahead of the Union Budget, expectations are running high within the ecosystem. Sources indicated that Budget 2026–27 could introduce further compliance easing for startups and enhanced allocations for the Fund of Funds.

In the previous budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a ₹10,000 crore Fund of Funds for Startups, signalling the government’s intent to crowd in private capital and support scale-stage ventures.

States Step Up: Delhi Signals a Strong Startup Push

Parallel to the national celebrations, states are also stepping up their startup agendas. At the Delhi Startup Yuva Festival, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta underscored the role of youth-led innovation in powering India’s rise as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem.

In a post on social media platform X, she credited the country’s startup momentum to visionary leadership, strong political will and a generation of young innovators. She said the Delhi government is working in mission mode to position the national capital as a leading startup hub and will soon roll out a Delhi Startup Policy to support founders from the idea stage to self-reliance. The event was attended by Union Minister of State Jayant Chaudhary and Delhi cabinet minister Ashish Sood.

As National Startup Day 2026 approaches, the message from the government is clear: the next phase of India’s startup journey will be deeper, broader and more inclusive—taking innovation beyond urban centres and embedding entrepreneurship into the economic fabric of every district in the country.