New Delhi: India’s startup landscape continues to expand at an unprecedented pace, with the government reporting a total of 1,97,692 DPIIT-recognised startups as of 31 October 2025. The data, presented in the Lok Sabha by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, shows that the Startup India initiative has emerged as one of the country’s largest engines of job creation and entrepreneurial growth.
According to the government, these recognised startups have generated more than 21.11 lakh direct jobs across sectors and geographies. Maharashtra leads the employment surge, with 34,444 recognised startups that together account for over 3.76 lakh jobs, making it the highest-performing state on both metrics. Despite the massive base of recognised ventures, only 4,147 startups have so far secured eligibility certificates for the Section 80-IAC tax exemption, which allows a 100% deduction on profits for three consecutive assessment years. The beneficiaries are concentrated in sectors such as IT services, healthcare, technology hardware, construction and professional services.
Funding support under government schemes has also reached significant milestones. The ₹10,000-crore Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) is now fully committed across 144 Alternative Investment Funds, while the ₹945-crore Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) has been approved for 219 incubators. Under the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS), the government has extended guarantees on 311 loans amounting to ₹755.25 crore, helping early-stage companies access institutional credit.
The Centre highlighted its broad push to ease regulatory compliance, noting that more than 47,000 compliances have been reduced, simplified, digitised or removed across ministries and states. Of these, over 22,000 have been digitised, more than 16,000 simplified, 4,557 decriminalised and 4,270 eliminated. Officials say this is part of a sustained “cost of regulation” effort aimed at lowering administrative frictions for businesses.
India’s innovation ecosystem has also recorded measurable progress. Startups have filed over 16,000 patent applications, buoyed by improvements in the intellectual property regime. Various ministries are simultaneously running youth-focused innovation programmes, from NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission and the Defence Ministry’s iDEX and ADITI initiatives, to MeitY’s GENESIS and IndiaAI Mission, and the Department of Science & Technology’s NIDHI programmes.
Green technology is emerging as a growing priority area, with 4,024 green-tech startups recognised so far. The government is encouraging climate-focused innovation through the National Startup Awards, the Bharat Startup Grand Challenge and hackathons targeting sustainability solutions.
Market access has also strengthened, with more than 34,400 startups onboarded on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). These companies have collectively received over 4.8 lakh orders worth ₹47,500 crore, signalling rising public-sector procurement from young enterprises.