BENGALURU: Union minister for electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday appealed to start-ups to come up with a credit solution for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and also requested them to take UPI to other countries.
Three countries have already signed up to use UPI, he said. “One big challenge where start-ups can help is in supporting the MSMEs. Can we come up with a credit solution for MSMEs? A solution where a very short time with minimal paperwork can be provided to MSMEs,” he said at the National Startup Conference held on Tuesday as part of the Digital India Week 2022.
He also asked entrepreneurs to expand Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to make it the next UPI. “Can we expand ONDC to make it the next UPI? I request all of you to have a serious look at it. We believe that ONDC can be the next UPI. Just look how you can leverage it for your business,” he added.
Ashwini Vaishnaw also explained how different sectors - defence, Railways and telecom- provide various opportunities to start-ups. “We have nearly 70,000 start-ups and over 100 unicorns,” he said, adding start-ups should make use of GENESIS, a recently launched platform.
“We would like GENESIS to become your gateway to different support systems which include mentors, funds, pitching partners and your gateway to various government programmes,” he said. Chandrasekhar told start-ups that their capabilities of leadership and entrepreneurship are increasingly defining new India.