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Economic Survey 2022: India Has Recognised 14,000 New Startups In FY22 So Far

After US and China, India added the most number of unicorns in 2021

Employees work at a startup in Mumbai. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)
Employees work at a startup in Mumbai. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

The number of startups recognised has surged more than 20-fold in five years.

India recognised 14,000 new startups in the first nine months of fiscal, according to the Economic Survey 2022. That compares with 733 recognised in 2016-17.

With this, more than 61,400 startups have been recognised in India as of Jan. 10, 2022, the survey said.

Over the recent years, Delhi has replaced Bangalore as the startup capital of India. Between April 2019 and December 2021, over 5,000 recognised startups were added in in the national capital against 4,514 in Bangalore.

With over 11,000 companies, Maharashtra had the most number of recognised startups.

States like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Rajasthan also reported high density of newly recognised startups in FY22.

In India, 555 districts had at least one new startup recognised in FY22 so far, compared with 122 in 2016-17.

Economic Survey 2022: India Has Recognised 14,000 New Startups In FY22 So Far

India also recorded 44 new unicorns, or startups valued at least $ 1 billion, FY22. India is now No. 3 by unicorns added in FY22, behind the U.S. (487) and China (301).

Last year, companies including Digit, Cred, Bharatpe, CoinDCX, Conswitch Kuber, Urban Company, Grofers, Licious, Droom, and CarDekho entered the unicorn club.

As of Jan. 14, the country had 83 unicorns with a total valuation of $277.8 billion, the Economic Survey said.

Since most of India's startups are in the information technology or knowledge-based sectors, the filing and granting of patents is key, said the survey. The number of patents filed from India and then granted in the country have been consistently rising over the last decade.

In 2010-11, there were 34,900 patents filed in India, while 7,509 were granted. This has gradually increased to 58,502 patents filed and 28,391 granted in 2020-21.

The share of Indian residents in total applications filed in the country has increased from 20% in 2010-11 to around 30% in 2016-17 and to 40% in 2020-21. "Consequently, India’s ranking in Global Innovation Index has climbed 35 ranks, from 81st in 2015-16 to 46th in 2021," the report said.

While this data is encouraging, the number of patents filed in India are still a fraction of what major economies across the world see. This is primarily because research and development expenditure is relatively low at 0.7% of the gross domestic product in India, the report said.

"The procedural delays and complexity of the process is another cause for low patents in India. The average pendency for final decision in acquiring patents in India is 42 months as of 2020," the report said. Issues such as a lack of examiners in India also contribute to this delay.