President Pranab Mukherjee agrees he didn’t do enough as FM for Startup India

A day before Startup India, President Pranab Mukherjee lauded the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for creating a healthy environment for entrepreneurs in the country and pushing innovation.

Mukherjee also said he was responsible for the delay in encouraging entrepreneurship during his regime in the former UPA government, in which he served as the finance minister.

"I cannot pass on the buck to anybody. I will have to take the buck to myself because I was in administration too long."

Mukherjee, while interacting with a delegation of CEOs from the Silicon Valley here, said India needs to grow at the rate of 10 per cent over period of next 10-15 years in order to address the issues of poverty and healthcare.

"Some of you have correctly pointed out that they (new entrepreneurs) feel confident, they want to do..It is the job of the government to create the policy environment to encourage entrepreneurship. We have taken too long but nonetheless we have taken that decision. We have woken up," he told the CEOs while referring to the 'Start-Up' campaign which is aimed at boosting entrepreneurship at grassroots level.

(Image: PIB)