MIT India conference brings together innovators to focus on Modi’s ‘Start Up India’

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Diya TV) — In an effort to celebrate the advancements in technology by Indian people worldwide, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in partnership with the MIT Sloan School of Management, and the local MIT community, hosted the inaugural “Startup India” conference on April 3.

Diya TV was an official sponsor of the event, which put a spotlight on the growing Indian startup market, recognized globally as the third-most active growing startup region — the South Asian nation boasts north of 4,000 startups, eight of which are valued at more than $1 billion. The U.S. and UK are one and two respectively.

Since taking on the reigns Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi announced several programs from, ‘Swacch Bharat’ to ‘Digital India’. In January the Indian government announced the ‘Startup India’ program, seeded by a $1.5 billion fund and a string of tax breaks, the program became the first such of its kind of be introduced by the country’s policymakers focused on entrepreneurs, investors, and startups companies.

The program was formally announced after Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley in Sept. 2015, where his announced focus was set on “startups, innovation & technology.”

During his visit, Modi also shared his ‘Digital India’ vision with the business heads of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Qualcomm, Facebook, Adobe, etc.

Ashish Sahani, Research Fellow at Harvard Medical school

Ashish Sahani is a research fellow at Massuchusettes General Hospital & Harvard Medical School and was thrilled to be at the event, he said “The amount of interest in the Startups in India is at an all time high. The entrepreneurial tide in India is very palpable and world is looking forward to us as the next economic superpower.”

Additionally, this year’s conference also featured innovative projects being developed by MIT students and researchers with potential application for India. Panels focussed from growing sustainably in complex markets to opportunities in social entrepreneurship.

MIT alumni have launched 30,200 active companies and have created more than 4.6 million jobs. As a direct result, these companies are generating roughly $1.9 trillion in annual revenues, and if MIT were a nation, it would possess the 10th largest economy in the world.

Aside from celebrating the achievements of Indians globally, the conference also provided a platform to discuss the future of collaborations between India and the rest of the world — speakers slated to make appearances included Arvind Subramanian, chief economic adviser, Government of India; Mukesh Aghi, President, US-India Business Council; Gururaj Deshpande, founder and chairman of Sycamore Networks and Ashish Hemrajani, founder and CEO of BookMyShow.com.