Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched India's startup story to a global audience on October 13, 2026, telling the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi that the country now has more than 2.5 lakh startups — up from roughly 100 before 2014.
Addressing the eighth edition of the forum — being hosted in India for the first time, with more than 500 global public- and private-sector leaders attending under the theme "A World in Play: Defining the New Levers of Power" — Modi laid out his "power to empower" philosophy: technology, data, knowledge and innovation must create opportunities for millions rather than benefit a privileged few.
Two statistics stood out. The Prime Minister said half of India's startups are now based in smaller cities, and that more than 45 per cent have at least one woman director or partner — figures he presented as evidence that entrepreneurship is spreading beyond the metros and that women are increasingly represented in business leadership.
Modi linked the startup boom to affordable mobile internet, digital public infrastructure and a reform process he described as a matter of conviction rather than compulsion. He positioned India not just as an investment destination but as a partner in shaping the global economy, working towards Viksit Bharat while seeking to strengthen its role as a reliable engine of global growth.
The remarks came against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, trade disruptions and rapid technological change — with the central question, as Modi framed it, being how economic and technological power is deployed and whether its benefits reach a wider cross-section of society.
Why it matters for founders
When the Prime Minister's global pitch leads with startups-in-small-cities and women directors, it signals where policy attention — and potentially policy support — is heading. Tier 2 and Tier 3 founders and women-led startups should treat this as a tailwind for grants, procurement and visibility.