Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Bharat Innovates 2026 event in France, launching the platform as a strategic bridge between Indian talent and European capital. The event marks a significant step in the India-France partnership that extends beyond trade to shared vision and values, building on previous collaborations including the International Solar Alliance and AI dialogue.
The Bharat Innovates platform serves to bring world-class solutions developed by Indian young innovators to the global stage, with IIT Delhi Chairperson Harish Salve receiving special recognition for his contribution to organizing the initiative. The platform features 100-125 startups representing India's vast ecosystem of over 200,000 startups that are contributing to both Indian and global economic growth.
India's innovation landscape spans multiple cutting-edge sectors including AI applications for rural transformation, satellite technology for farmers, smart cities, advanced manufacturing, new materials, green hydrogen, electric mobility, battery technologies, and defense and security technologies. The Prime Minister emphasized India's transformation from being viewed as a technology adopter a decade ago to emerging as a technology provider today.
India has built a strong innovation ecosystem over the past 11-12 years through patent filings, incubation networks, Startup India initiatives, and policy support, making it the world's third-largest startup ecosystem. The government has expanded innovation to grassroots levels through Atal Tinkering Labs in schools, hackathons, innovation challenges, and nationwide incubators and research institutions, with particular focus on women innovators.
Significant reforms have opened India's defense sector for innovation, with hundreds of startups now working in defense and space sectors. Recent nuclear energy sector reforms are creating new opportunities in clean energy, advanced reactors, and frontier research. The Prime Minister extended an invitation for partnership, co-development, joint research, shared manufacturing, and long-term collaboration to investors, universities, research institutions, and entrepreneurs present at the event.