Deeptech Can Grow India's GDP 9 Times, Says Amitabh Kant

Despite India being the fifth largest economy in the world, the country’s per capita income is very low and therefore, it needs to grow rapidly, said India’s G20 Sherpa and former NITI Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant at the "StartUp Masters Class" event in New Delhi on Saturday.

He stated that the country has the potential to overtake Japan and Germany’s economies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Viksit Bharat vision reflects that India can become a developed nation with $30 trillion economy if the manufacturing sector grows 17 times , he believes.

“This will require us to drive growth through manufacturing and agriculture. Besides these sectors, we also need to focus on cutting edge areas of growth like deeptech needs disruption which can be done through young start-ups and patient capital,” Kant said.

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He said a significant progress is needed in research and development, while mentioning that India has started key programs such as the AI Mission, Quantum Computing Mission, Green Hydrogen Mission, and the Semiconductor Mission.

According to Kant, these missions will be successful if they support and encourage start-ups. He further highlighted that deep-tech requires massive patient capital.

He emphasised that patient capital would enable the growth of numerous deep-tech start-ups. "Due diligence cannot be carried out by the government. It should be the responsibility of VC funds. The VCs should contribute two-thirds of the funding, while the remaining one-third can be driven by a fund of funds," Kant said.

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"The government should focus on two key actions: creating a fund of funds and launching large-scale challenges that address India's critical needs. The only way to capture the market is by launching new disruptive start-ups. Only way India can raise its GDP nine times is with the help of deep-tech," he added.