Ahmedabad, March 22: Amid a thriving startup ecosystem, India aims to take the number of unicorns from the current 118 to 1,000 and even 5,000 in the future, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, said on Saturday.

India is currently home to nearly 1.59 lakh startups., according to the DPIIT data.

Speaking at the ‘Vejalpur Startup Festival 2.0’ here, the minister said that startups have helped India's economy grow with innovative ideas and new ways of functioning.

Gujarat has remained the best performing state in startups, he added.

“PM Narendra Modi, as the then chief minister of Gujarat, ensured fast paced development of the state. Gujarat's development then became the country's development. And slowly, several countries, especially developing countries, today want to adopt India's development model," the minister told the gathering.

“There is hardly any leader in the world who has been conferred the highest civilian awards. PM Modi has been conferred 21 international awards," Goyal added.

He further stated that the government has given encouragement to startups, investors, founders and mentors to associate with startups.

The Centre started a Fund of Funds (FoF) for startups with a fund of Rs 10,000 crore. Another Rs 10,000 crore fund was announced in the last budget, and the first instalment has been provided to the department.

Also, Angel tax has also been removed and a portal 'Bhaskar' has been launched for startups to connect with investors, Goyal said.

Urging youth to create a model of people-centric development through their startup ideas, Goyal said, "Sometimes you have to face failures. Do not get scared of failure. The mantra of a startup is to rise from failure and become successful." (IANS)

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