India aims to take number of unicorns to 5,000 in future: Piyush Goyal

Ahmedabad, March 22 (IANS) 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.