Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal today (3 August) announced that India has achieved a landmark milestone, wherein 75,000 startups have been recognised in the country.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recognised more than 75,000 startups, a milestone which coincides with 75th year of independence, the Commerce Ministry said in a release on Wednesday (3 August).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the Independence Day speech from the Red Fort on 15 August 2015, had announced a Startup India campaign to tap into the entrepreneurial potential of the country.

On 16 January 2016, a programme was initiated to lay out a Startup India action plan to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country.

In the six years since its launch, the action plan has successfully guided into making India the third largest ecosystem, the Commerce Ministry said.

According to the ministry, while the initial ten thousand startups were recognised in 808 days, the latest ten thousand were achieved in only 156 days.

The ministry informed that over 80 startups are getting recognised every day in the country, which is the highest rate in the world.

Out of the total recognised startups, around 12 per cent cater to IT services, 9 per cent to healthcare and life sciences, 7 per cent to education, 5 per cent to professional and commercial services and 5 per cent to agriculture, the ministry said.

Around 7.46 lakh jobs have been created by the Indian startup ecosystem, so far, which has been a 110 per cent yearly increase over the last six years, it added.

Further, 49 per cent of the startups are from tier II and tier III cities, the ministry informed.