India can be the next Silicon Valley but the government needs to step up, says World Economic Forum

• A survey by the World Economic Forum shows that Indian senior executives believe policy in India to support technology is lagging.
• India has great potential to be one of the world’s largest technology hubs thanks to its growing number of internet users.
• However, government support needs to speed up to be the next Silicon Valley.

India has the world’s third largest startup ecosystem with over 560 million Internet users. Yet, the country is unable to re-create the success of Silicon Valley by creating massive technology hubs.

According to a World Economic Forum blog, it is due to lack of government support. As per a WEF survey, 83% of senior executives in the country believe that "policy-makers were behind the curve in terms of the laws they passed relating to technology and innovation”.

The report however says that PM Narendra Modi government’s initiatives like Startup India, Make in India and Digital India are a step in the right direction.

“Encouraging more foreign investment, offering tailored training programmes, making an effort to retain home-grown talent, as well as creating the right regulatory infrastructure are all vital to successful digital growth,” states the report.

With or without support, Indian ecosystem is aiding the growth of startups. In 2019 alone, eight startups joined the unicorn club, taking the number of unicorns to over 30. In the first nine months of 2019, Indian startups have raised a whopping $10.5 billion.

While Bengaluru already tops the list of world’s most dynamic cities, Delhi NCR too is growing to be a massive startup hub.

A recent report done by TiE Delhi NCR states that the national capital region has over 7,000 startups. NCR is also home to 10 unicorns, adding one new unicorn every year since 2013.