PM Modi pitches for ‘New India’, asks startup entrepreneurs for ideas

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives to cast his vote for the country's next President, at the Parliament House in New Delhi, India, July 17, 2017. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi - RTX3BQ8J

Addressing a gathering of more than 200 young entrepreneurs, PM Narendra Modi today asked startup CEOs to come up with ideas to transform the nation into a ‘New India.’

“Only governments and government initiatives will not make a New India. A change will be powered by each and every citizen of India. As CEOs, you can sit with your teams and discuss with them – what can we do for the next five years, for a New India,” he said.

The roundtable meeting witnessed many big names from the world of startups, such as Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma, OyoRoom’s Ritesh Agarwal, LimeRoad’s Suchi Mukherjee and Ananth Narayanan, CEO of Myntra.

Pitching for innovation, Modi said, “Innovation is life. When there is no innovation, there is stagnation.”

“Policy makers in the government are relatively senior...the group I am meeting today is young. I want both to work together for India's good. I have found senior officials in the government seeing opportunities in the new ideas shared,” he added.

Emphasising on the need to change the system, PM Modi said that we have to change our processes and it’s important to integrate the strengths of the society with our systems adding that there a need to institutionalise a system where feedback can continuously be taken from entrepreneurs.

“We think that every person in the country has something to offer. It is important to integrate the strengths of the society with the system,” Modi said.

Under the 'Champions Of Change' programme organised by NITI Aayog, entrepreneurs made deliberations on six themes - New India 2022, Digital India, Emerging a Sustainable Tomorrow, Health and Nutrition, Education and Skill Development, and Soft Power.