Enterprise · Sub-pillar 5.4

Entrepreneurial culture

Social attitudes to risk and failure, and the ability to build businesses from smaller cities and towns.

What is entrepreneurial culture?

Entrepreneurial culture is sub-pillar 5.4 of the 47 BH framework for a developed Bharat by 2047, the fourth of five sub-pillars under the Enterprise pillar. It asks how society treats risk and failure, how many adults actually start businesses, and whether people can build companies from smaller cities and towns rather than only from the metros.

Why it matters for 2047

Laws and loans can be fixed by governments; culture is fixed by people. A society that treats a failed business as a disgrace, that prefers a safe job for its children and that reserves ambition for a few cities will produce fewer founders than its talent allows, whatever its policies say.

India is a paradox on this measure. More adults than almost anywhere say they see good opportunities and have the skills to start a business, yet a larger share than almost anywhere also say fear of failure would stop them. Closing that gap is worth more than any single scheme.

Geography is culture too. Half of India's recognised startups now come from Tier II and Tier III cities, which shows what is possible. Whether those founders can find mentors, customers and capital without moving to a metro decides whether the whole country, or a few corners of it, becomes entrepreneurial.

Where India stands

  • 62.8%

    of Indian adults who saw good opportunities to start a business said fear of failure would stop them, in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2023-24 survey, the second-highest rate among 46 economies; the 2025 survey still found more than half.[1][2]

  • 12.0%

    of Indian adults were starting or running a new business in 2023-24 (total early-stage entrepreneurial activity), 22nd of 46 economies; 14.6% of men against 9.3% of women. Established business ownership was 12.4%, 7th highest.[1]

  • 82.5%

    of Indian adults saw good opportunities to start a business and 81.6% believed they had the skills, the 2nd and 3rd highest rates among 46 economies, while only 19.5% intended to start one within three years.[1]

  • about 50%

    of India's government-recognised startups come from Tier II and Tier III cities, and 1,02,054 of 2,12,283 recognised startups had at least one woman director as of 31 January 2026; Atal Tinkering Labs operate in schools across 733 districts.[3][4]

Belief is not the problem. Four in five Indian adults see opportunities and think they have the skills, India ranks third among surveyed economies on the perceived ease of starting a business, and 12th in the world on entrepreneurship policies and culture in the Global Innovation Index. [1][5] Startups have spread: half now come from smaller cities and nearly half have a woman director. [3][4]

Fear is. India has one of the highest fear-of-failure rates in the world, and the share of adults who intend to start a business within three years is a quarter of the share who see opportunities. [1] Women start businesses at two-thirds the rate of men. [1] Among adults who did start, one in eight was running an early-stage business, a rate in the middle of the surveyed pack rather than at the top. [1]

A note on the numbers: the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor is an academic survey of roughly 2,000 to 3,000 adults per country, run in India by the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, and its India sample is small for a country this size; the fear-of-failure measure counts only people who already see an opportunity; startup counts are of firms registered with the government and under-count informal enterprise; attitudes change slowly and should be read over years, not survey to survey.

On the 47 BH report card

Every 15 August, 47 BH reports how far India has come on each sub-pillar. For this sub-pillar, the headline indicators are:

  • Fear-of-failure rate and total early-stage entrepreneurial activity, by sex (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor India).
  • Entrepreneurial intentions and perceived opportunities (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor India).
  • Share of recognised startups, funding and unicorns outside the top three metros (DPIIT).
  • Entrepreneurship policies and culture rank (Global Innovation Index, WIPO).

Two lenses on entrepreneurial culture

City and village

47 BH asks whether a young person in Bhubaneswar, Nagpur or Jaipur sees starting a business as a normal thing to do, and whether the town around her treats a failure as a lesson or a stain. Half of recognised startups are now outside the metros; the share of unicorns, funding and mentors that reach them is the test.

Learn, avoid, protect

Learn
What can India learn from societies where a failed founder is hired for the experience, where schools teach children to build and sell, and where second-tier cities grew their own clusters rather than feeding the capital?
Avoid
Which mistakes should it avoid, such as glorifying unicorns while ignoring the kirana owner and the small manufacturer, confusing registration counts with real enterprise, or letting family and social pressure steer the ablest young people only into safe jobs?
Protect
What of its own should it protect, such as the trading and artisan communities that have practised enterprise for centuries, the family and community networks that fund first ventures, and the frugality that lets Indian founders do more with less?

What this sub-pillar does not cover

Each topic has one home in the framework. These related topics sit elsewhere:

Questions about entrepreneurial culture

How afraid of failure are Indian entrepreneurs?

62.8% of adults who saw good opportunities said fear of failure would stop them from starting a business in the GEM India 2023-24 survey, the second-highest rate of 46 economies; the GEM 2025 India profile still reports more than half. [1][2]

How many Indians are starting businesses?

12.0% of adults were starting or running a new business in 2023-24, 22nd of 46 economies: 14.6% of men and 9.3% of women. 12.4% owned an established business, according to GEM India. [1]

Do Indians think they can start a business?

Yes, more than almost anywhere: 82.5% saw good opportunities and 81.6% believed they had the skills in 2023-24, the 2nd and 3rd highest rates surveyed, but only 19.5% intended to start one within three years. [1]

Are startups spreading beyond the metros?

About half of India's 2,12,283 recognised startups come from Tier II and Tier III cities, and 1,02,054 have a woman director, according to the Press Information Bureau. [3][4]

Why is entrepreneurial culture a development question?

Because a country's supply of founders is set by how its families, schools and communities treat risk. India has the belief and the opportunity; turning them into attempts, in every town and by women as much as men, is what a developed Bharat requires.

Sources

  1. Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, "Global Entrepreneurship Monitor India Report 2023-24", March 2025. https://ediindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/GEM_2023-24-1.pdf
  2. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, "Entrepreneurship in India" economy profile, 2025 survey. https://www.gemconsortium.org/country-profile/69
  3. Press Information Bureau, "A Decade of Startup India" backgrounder, 15 January 2026. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/jan/doc2026115757801.pdf
  4. Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, release on Startup India (recognised startups and women directors), 17 March 2026. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2241313&reg=3&lang=1
  5. World Intellectual Property Organization, "Global Innovation Index 2025: India" economy profile, September 2025. https://www.wipo.int/edocs/gii-ranking/2025/in.pdf

47 BH cites every figure so that it can be checked. If you find an error, it will be corrected openly and the date below will change.

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