Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal will launch Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry (BHASKAR), an interactive online platform to further boost world’s third largest startup ecosystem and to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of youth converting ideas into businesses, on Monday.
“The platform will centralise, streamline, and enhance collaboration among key stakeholders within the entrepreneurial ecosystem, including startups, investors, mentors, service providers, and regulatory bodies,” a government spokesperson said.
Inaugurating ‘Startup Mahakumbh’ on March 20, the Prime Minister said startups changed the psyche that a lot of money was needed to start a business and commended the youth for choosing the path of becoming a job creator rather than a job seeker. “As a result, we now have over 1.46 lakh recognised startups employing over 1 million youth,” the official said. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in the ministry of commerce and industry is the nodal agency for the initiative.
This initiative aligns with the government’s vision to transform India into a global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship, reinforcing the country’s commitment to the startup movement, the ministry said in a statement. By providing personalised BHASKAR IDs for each stakeholder, the platform will facilitate easier interaction, enhance searchability, and allow for efficient discovery of relevant opportunities and partnerships, it said.
The primary goal of BHASKAR is to build the world’s largest digital registry for stakeholders within the startup ecosystem. To achieve this, the platform will offer several key features such as networking and collaboration: bridging gap between startups, investors, mentors, and other stakeholders, and allowing for seamless interaction across sectors, it said.
“By consolidating resources, the platform will provide startups with immediate access to critical tools and knowledge, enabling faster decision-making and more efficient scaling. Every stakeholder will be assigned a unique ID, ensuring personalised interactions and tailored experiences across the platform,” it said.
The system will have powerful search features so that users can easily locate relevant resources, collaborators, and opportunities, ensuring faster decision-making and action, it said. It will also serve as a vehicle for promoting India’s global reputation as a hub for innovation, making cross-border collaborations more accessible to startups and investors alike, it added.
BHASKAR is poised to redefine India’s startup landscape and create a more connected, efficient, and collaborative environment for entrepreneurship, the statement said. “As India’s startup ecosystem continues to grow, BHASKAR will play a critical role in enhancing the country’s global standing in entrepreneurship. By fostering a culture of collaboration, the platform will help startups overcome challenges and build innovative solutions that address the needs of tomorrow. With the launch of BHASKAR, the Government of India is reinforcing its commitment to making India a leader in global innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth,” it said.
Almost a year after coming into the power, PM Modi in his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2015 spoke about promoting entrepreneurship at the grassroot through ‘Startup India’ and ‘Standup India’ (easy loans to underprivileged) campaigns. The Startup India initiative was launched on January 16, 2016 with an aim to transform India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers.
“While presence of startups was negligible before 2014, today, India is the third largest startup ecosystem with 1.25 lakh startups involving 12 lakh youth who are directly linked with them. We have more than 110 unicorns and our startups have filed about 12,000 patents,” the Prime Minister said on March 20. According to the latest government’s data, India has over 1.46 lakh DPIIT-registered startups.
