Contribution of Startups soon to touch 5% of GDP, says IMFA MD Subhrakant Panda

By Swagatika Bhutia

New Delhi, April 5: The Startups ecosystem in India is fast evolving and their contribution to the country’s GDP will account for 5% in the coming 5 years. Underlining the importance of Startups during an industry-academia interaction with the students of National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela Mr Subhrakant Panda, Managing Director of Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd (IMFA) said, “Over the next 4 to 5 years, Startups are expected to contribute about 5% of India’s GDP, which is very significant.”

India has a unique positioning in global economy. While most of the countries are looking for export market for their manufacturing industry, India offers a huge unified domestic market because of GST, he added.

During the interaction, Mr Panda, who is also President of FICCI, shared his ideas on “Future of Work: Technology driven Entrepreneurship”. He said that immigration, unified domestic market, sustained economic reform and startup ecosystem are key strengths of Indian economy. As business is getting more technology oriented, engineering can contribute to creating more and more entrepreneurs in the country. He appreciated efforts of institutions like NIT in creating opportunities for entrepreneurs. More and more institutions should take similar steps, he suggested.

Mr Panda also recalled the long association of IMFA Group with NIT-Rourkela. Founder of IMFA Dr Bansidhar Panda was the Chairman of the Board of Governors of NIT, Rourkela from 2002 to 2007. IMFA has instituted Gold Medal in the memory of its founder Dr Bansidhar Panda. The medal is awarded every year to the topper in the B. Tech stream of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering of the institute.

The interaction session was organised by NIT-Rourkela as part of G20 Jan Bhagidari events. Director General of FICCI Mr Arun Chawla and Director of NIT Rourkela Prof. K. Umamaheshwar Rao were also present on the occasion.