 of the startup world is by whatever parameters, you look at the parameter of those who've succeeded to become unicorns, you look at the parameter of number of startups, you look at the ecosystem, the fact that the Entrepreneur Magazine can have an annual event and such a huge attendance because a lot of us are either already entrepreneurs or aspiring to be entrepreneurs. In India, we had eight unicorns in 2008, the most in a single calendar year. We moved to the 57th rank and Bangalore is among the top three cities. And India as a country is among the third as a country. So, we are the first largest ecosystem that gives you that it is fertile ground to be able to put the seeds. You know, about what, 25, 30 years ago, when I started and I became an entrepreneur, I left my job with the GE to start my own company. Startup was not a sexy word that it is today. Entrepreneurship was not an accepted term. Like one of my aunties, if many of you from Delhi will understand Punjabi, one of my aunties came and said, Putar Ki Oya, Kad Dita, that they sack you from your job, that is why you're saying you're setting up your own company. And any effort to explain to her that I have aspirations to do, to use my knowledge to leverage the opportunity and create something different fell on deaf ears. There was some very tough family dinner time conversations that I remember I had at that point of time and they were able to influence my parents who after the dinner turn around and said, Let's talk about it. Are you doing the right thing? Your employers are still saying don't leave because I was serving my notice period. And are you doing the right thing? Is it the right thing for you to listen to your employers and stay? So, a lot has changed in this ecosystem to where we are today. So, what is the enabler of this ecosystem? One of the big enablers of this is the incubators and the accelerators. Last year they grew by 11%. But what is important is that these incubators and accelerators by type et cetera come from both the corporate world. A lot of companies are initiating an incubator or an accelerator where they showcase their technology so that the startups start using their technologies and when the seed becomes a plant, the plant becomes a tree, and the tree becomes a huge fruit bearing tree, it is their technology that is being used. There is a vision for, there, it is for profit promotion by them to create these accelerators and incubators. And then there is a government supported aspect of it, where the government wants to create a level playing field and a ground where people can participate. Again, when I started my journey, this did not exist. Mentorship did not exist. You could hire consultants who are not really mentors who never set up an industry or a company or a startup of their own and you have to pay good money to get any advice. So this is a sea change of what has happened in this environment. So a lot of the startups, and I'll talk a little about it, are working on AI, IoT, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, a whole lot of things that are buzzwords just literally four, five years ago. And what is interesting is that approximately 38% of these accelerators are not in larger towns, they are in small towns and cities. So both the government and corporates play a crucial role acting as a catalyst to initiate that reaction. So I've taken three examples just to give you a little flavor. A corporate accelerator, the NetApp accelerator run by one of the corporates, they bring out what their focus areas are, what they offer to the accelerator. There are some grants, there are some equity participations, there are markets, there are inputs, there's technology, all of that. And they are very successful models that corporates run or private individuals or private entrepreneurs run because running an accelerator is an activity by itself. And then there is a state government incubator, the T-HUB. And I've had a chance of visiting this multiple times and it is quite fascinating as you go into the T-HUB, the sheer energy that you see there. And the first time I visited that, I came out saying, I don't even, can't even realize that this is where the government participates. Again, the focus areas are food, education, healthcare, finance, they bring the government capabilities and they bring the ability to bring in what a startup needs. But my favorite example is the next one, which I think is one of the most fascinating steps taken by the central government of what is BIRAC. For biology and biotech and the other capabilities where they actually incubate. I am now an investor in about four companies that were incubated by BIRAC or they gave some initial grants. Four as a percentage, I have 70 plus investments, so four as a percentage is not very large, but in terms of the excitement of what these companies are doing, there is, for instance, a company that is creating human skin using 3D printing. So God forbid you get burnt and you need grafting of a skin in the world of tomorrow, they'll be able to use a 3D printer to generate that skin, which can be put on you and the early signs of that are very good. There's a company that is creating the human liver in a laboratory without the human being done and my first reaction was, why do I need a liver in a petri dish, what will I do with it? Still I realized that all pharmaceutical companies have to test their medicines to check how they impact the liver and they can then not do human tests and they could do it in a petri dish. So it's quite fascinating, from the outside one would not have thought what the possibilities are and BIRAC has identified those companies given initial grants and today I'm proud to say I work very closely with them, they are a part of the Indian Angel Network fund on which I'm one of the promoters and we are looking at biotech as the capability. So the government continues to play a role in what it is and I think this is the best example that I can tell you, $160 billion as an industry, the industry I represent, I'm fortunate to have been the past chairman of NASCARM. In my estimation, this $160 billion would not have happened in the time that it has happened, but for STPI, which is a catalyst for this, 30 years ago, I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that it was the 30th anniversary year, it was formed to promote the software experts and they played multiple roles, I mean I could go on and on, but I can tell you within the BPO industry what we did as American Express, which is what initiated the BPO industry, what we did as GE, what is Genpac today, which is the largest BPO company in the whole world out of India, or what the industry which directly employs about 1.6, 1.7 million people and indirectly employs another 4 million would not have happened, but for the support. The single window clearance that you see there is a critical part of it, their ability to bring state of art technology at a cost effective price to a startup is a key part of it, and they now have 57 centers of which 49 are in tier two, tier three cities, they have incubation centers, and they have BPO promotion schemes, but it is the evolution of this concept. STPI came into being because the industry went to the government and said there were some needs that were not fulfilled, we were a foreign exchange deficient economy at that point of time, and we proposed to the government we'll be able to create jobs and earn foreign exchange if the following was done, this entity was formed by the ministry, the IT ministry, and that is a perfect, BIRAC was formed by the health ministry, STPI was formed by the IT ministry, so it promoted those aspects, and that is what brings us to the world of today to say where we are and what are the challenges. All of us sitting in Delhi, I can't see you, but I see nobody wearing masks as yet, but I can tell you five years later, if we did nothing and we sat in this room, we'd all probably be wearing masks if it all we continue to stay in Delhi. I know at least 10 expats who are heading large multinationals representing their companies in India who have since left the country because they did not want their children to grow up in the polluted environment of Delhi. That is a serious aspect, and if you look at it, we are cities rank among the most polluted in the world, and the solution is to, hey, be able to fix it, to be able to find solutions either to clean the air or to reduce the aspects, and the vehicle pollution, which I'm just picking as a point where we, as a startup ecosystem, can work on to where it can be done. So to leave it just to the government would be wrong, it is up to us or where we take it and what we can do with it. And the innovation and legislation are a big aspect that will work on it. The government has taken the initiatives. There are already companies, but what I want to dwell on is what the startup is, and sitting within the startup ecosystem, in the last six months, the number of companies that I have met who've come up with the concept, it is not about making the vehicle, it is not about making the lithium-ion batteries only, it is about models that will make it happen. I met a startup that has a charging unit that is more cost-effective than what is imported today, that is more efficient than what is done, takes lesser time to install, and they could install it in petrol pumps, they could install it in parking lots, and their entire model is to bring that capability, and they manufacture in India and their technology, they have patented it, it's quite unique. I met another startup that is on electric scooters, I said, so you make scooters, he said, no, we don't make them, we just get them made by somebody, we have a design, said, so why would I, why would I want to invest in you? Said, here are stories, I said, yeah, I'm willing to hear. They have an entire model where they will put their scooters outside metro stations, you come out of the metro instead of hiring a cab or a auto, you can go there, flash your mobile phone, a barcode on it, it will unlock the scooter, you can take it to your office where there'll be another parking lot, you put it there, flash your mobile phone, and they will take into account how many kilometers they've run, and they'll charge you by the kilometer, you don't need to wait for autos, you don't need to do anything, and it is electric vehicle, it is eco-friendly, they do the charging, they do the maintenance, so that got me pretty excited, and then they told me how they financed it, they go to people saying each unit cost whatever, 36,000, 50,000 rupees, and they give a return to an individual investor, and they have people who come in and invested to say, okay, I'll buy 15 of these vehicles, and I'll pay you the money, and you give me a monthly return, and they then get their return by the kilometer, it's a fascinating business model. The point I'm making to you is, the business models are yet to be explored, many of you sitting in this room will come up with ideas to create those business models, and to leverage what the EV revolution is creating. Entrepreneurs just don't create wealth and jobs, they also play a part in solving the problem. If you solve the problem, yes, revenue will happen, and yes, profits will happen, so will investors, so will the general well-being, and that is the greatest aspect. It is not about the EV, it is about the business models around it that have yet to be found. Amitabh Khan spoke about some of the startups and gave their present business models. Four years ago, those startups did not exist, nobody knew of those business models, and what I'm telling you is nobody knows what will happen in the EV world or what can be done. The budget has brought a lot to it, we've cut the GST rate, we've said that if you take a loan to buy an EV, your interest will be deductible, and that will create an impetus for this to happen. There are other incentives in terms of the FAME II scheme, the tax rebates, the import duties for various things, so it is not just the import substitution, it is the entire business model that will help what it is. So to my mind, these are very exciting times for startups, I just use EV as an example, we have significant capabilities to address the biggest issues, pollutions, and within pollution, EV as one of the potential solutions is just an example. With the government resources behind us, which is what the budget has shown, which is what the present government has shown, it creates a huge opportunity. The question is, are we as entrepreneurs, are we as a startup community up to it? And as you guys make those companies, allow me to invest, together we'll make magic happen. Thank you very much.