There are currently 105 unicorns in existence, the Minister of State for Science and Technology said

India ranks third in the world in terms of the start-up ecosystem and unicorn count, Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh said on Friday.

Delivering the keynote address at the "DST StartUp Utsav", Singh referred to the most recent statistics and said there are currently 105 unicorns in existence, 44 of which were born in 2021 and 19 in 2022. He also stated that India's science, technology, and innovation sectors are anticipated to undergo radical upheaval in the decade 2021–30.

According to Singh, India's Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) has surged more than three times in recent years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that, according to the most recent data, India has more than 5 lakh R&D employees, a growth of 40–50% over the previous eight years.

He also stated that women's involvement in extramural R&D has quadrupled over the past eight years, and India currently ranks third after the United States and China in terms of the number of PhDs given in science and engineering (S&E). He also added, "With the shifting global powers and technology becoming the epicentre of international engagements and rulemaking, India under Modi is living up to global benchmarks."

In reference to PM Modi's 2015 inauguration of StartUp India from the Red Fort ramparts, Jitendra Singh stated India is now home to up to 75,000 startups in its 75th year of independence.

He noted that 49% of start-ups in India come from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, highlighting the fact that the country's startups are not exclusively located in metropolitan areas or large cities today. According to him, startups are growing in industries including IT, agriculture, aviation, education, the energy sector, the health sector, and the space sector.

Additionally, Singh released four publications showing potential start-ups financed by CAWACH, including the program's centrepiece, the Technology Business Incubator (TBI), and a coffee table book of 51 such start-ups.