Abstract

Startup India and Atmanirbhar Bharat represent two of the most ambitious national missions in India’s recent development trajectory. Both initiatives aim to strengthen domestic innovation entrepreneurship and economic self-reliance by encouraging new-age industries reducing import dependency promoting indigenous manufacturing and generating large-scale employment opportunities. The government has introduced a range of policy reforms financial incentives tax exemptions credit guarantees and regulatory simplifications to support aspiring entrepreneurs and young enterprises. Over the past few years India has witnessed exponential growth in the number of startups unicorns technology-driven ventures and sectoral innovations across agriculture education finance retail sustainability health and manufacturing. Yet despite remarkable progress a variety of systemic challenges remain including infrastructural gaps regulatory uncertainties financing barriers technological limitations uneven region