Maharashtra leads India's startup tally; Karnataka secures second spot

As India completes a decade since the launch of the Startup India initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this month, data from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the industry and commerce ministry showed Maharashtra taking a significant lead over the rest of the country in terms of hosting the most number of recognised startups with 35,992 of them at the end of 2025.

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Karnataka, which is home to India’s “Silicon Valley” Bengaluru and has always been at the forefront when it comes to innovation, technology and entrepreneurship, was at second place with 21,163 official startups.

Uttar Pradesh with 20,163 units, Delhi (19,913), and Gujarat (17,691) completed the top five.

It was also learnt from the data that the number of startups featuring at least a woman director has also reached nearly a lakh (99,640).

Overall, there were 2,07,135 startups in the country.

Karnataka has more than 21,000 startups officially

Just like Mumbai, India's financial capital, plays a major role in Maharashtra's rise in the startup sector, Bengaluru contributes heavily to Karnataka's achievement. Out of the total number of startups that are operational on its soil, more than 70 per cent are based in the state capital.

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Known to be a global technology hub on the eastern side of the Suez, Bengaluru has not only attracted a large quantity but also quality investment, boosting the overall national economy.

Number of DPIIT-Recognized Startups by State/UT in India
(as of December 2025 | Total: 207,135)

1. 🏙️ Maharashtra – 35,992
2. 💻 Karnataka – 21,163
3. 🕌 Uttar Pradesh – 20,163
4. 🇮🇳 Delhi – 19,913
5. 🏭 Gujarat – 17,691
6. 🏖️ Tamil Nadu – 13,780 pic.twitter.com/3ppxZ8uEW9

— Karnataka Development Index (@IndexKarnataka) January 23, 2026

If one looks at statistics of the last few years, Bengaluru has seen an average of more than USD 10 billion (about Rs 83,000 crore) of investment annually.

Karnataka raced ahead since Startup India launch

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Startup India scheme a decade ago, the country had only 500 startups. However, bolstered by the initiative, their number went up to more than 2,00,000 by the end of 2025. Today, Karnataka claims to have more than 10 per cent of them.

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With experts increasingly cautioning over India’s jobless growth, startups have emerged as not just another set of companies but hopes for millions of families. The sector has generated 12.4 lakh direct jobs while also contributing to the creation of about 45.3 lakh indirect jobs through ancillary services.

In Karnataka, startups in fields such as IT, biotech, and e-commerce have employed lakhs of youth.

State aims to decentralise startup ecosystem

The state now aims to look beyond Bengaluru to encourage the startup culture in Tier-II cities such as Mysuru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Tumakuru and Mangaluru, among others. Startups in sectors such as agriculture, education (edtech) and health (healthtech) are also creating a new wave in the state.

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Under the state government’s ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ policy, which aims to decentralise Karnataka’s thriving tech ecosystem, the state hopes to overtake Maharashtra to become the topmost startup destination in the coming days.

(This article was first published in The Federal Karnataka)