CIO Insider

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Question: Is India becoming the Launchpad for Entrepreneurs?

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Emmanuel Christi Das, Editor

The U.S. boasts 23 million small businesses; with 48 million India has more than twice as many. That more or less answers the question in the header. However, securing financing is an issue. When economists and businesspeople make predictions of which country will claim the number two slot in the global economy, Asia's rising giants-China and India, which combined account for more than one-third (37 percent) of the world's population-are usually near the top.

Today, India currently has more than 48 million small businesses; double the number of the small companies here in the U.S. (23 million), according to a report by Business Today (India).

About 15,000 small business owners have registered with eBay India to export their products globally, and these exporters now comprise a third of sellers on the platform. It is estimated that a product listed by an Indian seller is sold in the international market through eBay India every 10 seconds.

President Obama became the first U.S. President to visit India twice while in office when he flew to Delhi to attend the annual January 26th celebration of India's constitution. He has now met several times with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of the few world leaders with whom he seems to have a cordial relationship.

PM Narendra Modi is a big proponent of small business growth. He has encouraged entrepreneurs to improve the quality of their products in order to better compete in the global e-commerce marketplace.

Some businesses have experienced difficulty in raising capital, and India must loosen some of its strict regulatory practices. Access to credit the most critical growth driver for any growing company, yet most Indian entrepreneurs start out with minimal capital, which hurts their potential. The lack of easy financing stagnates growth of small companies.

However, a growing entrepreneurship culture, a supportive new proactive government, and growing availability of financing, India, the world's biggest democracy, is poised for robust economic times. I will leave you on that note to go through this edition and answer the question: is India really a launchpad for entrepreneurs?

Do let us know what you think.

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