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Govt needs to create platform for entrepreneurs: Nilekani

Updated: Nov 23, 2013 03:45:40pm
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New Delhi, Nov 23 (KNN) The central government needs to create platforms for entrepreneurs and innovation to flourish in the country, Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India has said.

He was speaking at a workshop yesterday on "Indo-US Start-up Accelerator" organised by FICCI in partnership with the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum and Department of Science and Technology.

Nilekani said the UID platform was created after looking at the two successful innovations that took place in the US, namely internet and GPS, and both became platforms for numerous entrepreneurs and start-ups.

Citing the example of Aadhar Card, he said, platforms lead to expansion. Aadhar cards have led to creation of an infrastructure of unique identity of people, digital authentication of a person, electronic KYC (Know Your Customer) and capability of creating a financial address.
 
The workshop signifies the joint commitment of all partners to create an enabling ecosystem for the young and dynamic start-ups from India to make the big leap.
 
Speaking about the challenges faced by the upcoming entrepreneurs, secretary, Department of Science and Technology, T Ramasami said, “It is often seen that funds are easily available to already established entrepreneurs. However, start-ups find it difficult to acquire seed funding.”
 
He said the government and entrepreneurs should learn and gain from each other's experiences.

"Start-ups have the advantage of being sensitive to the needs of the place and can be a part of the development process. They already enjoy economies of scope but need to expand economies of scale," he added.

The US Ambassador to India, Nancy J Powell said that the start-up ecosystem should allow for failures and not result in dire consequences such as drying up of funding sources.

“Entrepreneurship is the engine for global economic growth and increased productivity of workers in any economy. This is true for both developed and developing economies. The challenge for governments and private stakeholders is to provide an environment where entrepreneurship can flourish and where entrepreneurs can quickly bring their ideas and products to market
“Entrepreneurs are by nature risk takers and sometimes their ventures fail,” she added.
 
She emphasized that it is the entrepreneurs in clean energy, medicine, advanced manufacturing, information technology, robotics, nanotechnologies and other fields who will build the new industries of the 21st century, and solve some of our toughest global challenges. (KNN/SD)

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