Are Start-ups The Next Big Thing?

Experts predict that there will be 100,000 start-ups with a valuation of $500 billion in the next 10 years in India. On #IndiaHangOut, Mohandas Pai and Ajit Balakrishnan discuss the potential of these start-ups to spur the Indian economy.

"Young Indians coming out of top educational institutions today see the entrepreneurial job as something to aspire for. This is very different from what the scenario in 70s. There was a dramatic social climate change in the 90's in India, which is now coming to fruition," said Ajit Balakrishnan, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rediff.com.

"The current government's commitment to create jobs rests on the start-up industry. We estimate that 3 million jobs will be created in the next ten years in start-ups alone. 75,000 to 80,000 jobs are created every year currently," said Mohandas Pai, the Chairman of Manipal Global Education.

Speaking about the scope of the growing start-up culture, Pai said, "18 million people are going to come into the workforce. But the good thing is that failure is becoming a great learning experience for all these young entrepreneurs. Failure is now going to be an acceptable part in the future. Earlier, there was no scope. Now the scope is immense. If you fail in one, you can join another."

Pai picked B2c (business to consumer) companies as a trend that is dominating the market. "In the future, I see a lot of B2B (business to business) high-tech companies coming, trying to make businesses much more efficient. I see companies emerging in healthcare, education, laboratory technology, 3D printing designs - a very wide range of industries. They are all leveraging technology ," he said.

Watch the above video to find out the panelists' advice for all aspiring entrepreneurs.