New Delhi, June 6: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday interacted with thousands of young entrepreneurs through NaMo app. The Prime Minister appreciated youth of the country. He said that it was youth who had turned out to be the ‘job creators’ of the nation. Prime Minister Modi described India as a ‘youthful nation’. He asserted his government’s commitment to harness the demographic divide.

Modi also said that India had distinguished itself in the global startup ecosystem. The government has created a Rs 10,000 crore Fund of Funds, stated the Prime Minister while commenting on the availability of funds for start-ups. He further added, "We in the government understand that youngsters may face a shortage of funds for their startups. That is why a 'fund of funds' has been started by the government to facilitate more youngsters to innovate and ideate.”

Besides highlighting the need of adequate capital for outshining in the start-up sector, The Prime Minister also stressed on the importance of courage and connectivity to excel in this sector. During his interaction with young entrepreneurs, Prime Minister Modi stated that startups were no longer confined to big cities only. He further claimed that smaller towns and villages were emerging as vibrant startup centres.

Modi also highlighted that nowadays startups were not confined only to digital and technology,  but new market entrants could also be seen in sectors like agriculture. He said, "We have started an Agriculture Grand Challenge. We invite more youngsters to ideate on how to transform our agriculture sector.” The Prime Minister further added that the government had launched the Startup India Action Plan to promote budding entrepreneurs in the country with the aim to give incentives such as tax holiday, inspector raj-free regime and capital gains tax exemption.

Modi termed start-ups as growth engines. He said that today’s big companies were startups at some point. The PM also urged youngsters to keep innovating.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 06, 2018 02:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).