India can achieve economic growth of more than 10%, but reaching that level will require stronger efforts across sectors, including startups, technology and agriculture, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.

Speaking at a fireside chat at Sangam 2026, the annual fest of the IIT Madras Alumni Association in Bengaluru, Sitharaman said higher growth would accelerate India’s journey towards an Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat.

“It is possible for us to reach 10-plus growth. I am not just saying it to pep you all up. It is possible, but it would require a lot more effort from all stakeholders,” she said.

Sitharaman said India had significant headroom to raise growth by opening new avenues for talent and technology and applying innovation to persistent economic challenges. The startup ecosystem, which has expanded rapidly since 2015, could make a much larger contribution to economic growth in the coming years, she said.

She also called for greater optimism about India’s economic progress, saying the country had “too many naysayers” and urging people to recognise developments taking place on the ground.

Technology-led interventions in agriculture could significantly improve productivity, connect farmers with markets and accelerate farm operations, Ms. Sitharaman said. Drones and geospatial technologies were already transforming areas such as land mapping, while technology could help address underemployment in agriculture by raising productivity and equipping workers with new skills, she added.

Ms. Sitaraman cited the use of point-of-sale machines in fertiliser distribution as an example of technology reducing pilferage. Such systems record details of farmers, landholdings, crops and fertiliser quantities, helping optimise fertiliser use and reduce the risk of soil and water contamination.

The Finance Minister attributed India’s economic transformation over the past decade to deliberate policy interventions rather than an automatic process.

Responding to a question on India’s earlier inclusion among the “Fragile Five” economies, she said the government had first identified sectors requiring urgent attention, worked to restore confidence in institutions and subsequently opened sectors to greater private participation.

Banking reforms and the infusion of capital into banks were among the measures taken to strengthen the financial system, according to her.

The opening of the space sector to private participation had also triggered the emergence of startups developing satellites and other technologies, Ms. Sitharaman said. Renewable energy, nuclear technology, artificial intelligence and other emerging sectors could become important drivers of India’s next phase of growth, she added.

Start-ups working on sustainability solutions need to be supported from the ideation stage to help innovative ideas translate into viable technologies, panellists said at The Hindu Sustainability Summit 2026 held in Chennai on Wednesday (September 23, 2026).

At a session on ‘Ideas to Impact: Start-ups accelerating the energy transition’, speakers discussed about the current status of start-ups, challenges they face and the support needed to scale their innovations.

Elaborating on the importance of incubation and entrepreneurial activities, Indumathi M. Nambi, Environment and Water Resources Division, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, said not many incubators supported students at ideation stage and many students too did not register with incubators. This indicated a gap in the existing incubation eco system. There was a need to create pre-incubators that could help students develop and test their ideas.

At IIT Madras, gaps had been identified after the piloting stage and corporates and industries must step in to bridge them. Highlighting that funding was not an issue for deep tech start-ups, she said a major roadblock was the trust about new ideas.

Doctoral programme

She also suggested introducing a doctoral programme in entrepreneurship to help students demonstrate scaled-up products and receive mentorship support for commercialisation.

Speakers called for greater collaboration between industries, academic institutions and start-ups. They also stressed the need to introduce entrepreneurship as a subject at the school level to help students pursue careers aligning with their interests.

Pravin Dongre, Executive Director, Indian Oil Corporation Limited spoke about IOCL’s journey in encouraging the start-up ecosystem. Various start-ups across the value chain, including those working on clean and green energy and water, had received funding with support extended for 18 to 36 months. Some had reached proof of concept stage and some of them, including projects such as eco toilets and nano fillers for oil pipelines had been commercialised, Mr. Dongre said.

He stressed the need for start-ups to have clarity on long-term development. Incubation mechanisms could benefit both start-ups and industries. More support mechanisms were needed to take innovations from modular solutions to commercial scale, he said.

Speakers also emphasised on the need for collaborations to address critical environmental challenges such as air pollution and water issues.

Pointing out various challenges faced by start-ups, Karthika Gopi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Carbelim, said achieving net-zero goals did not have a one-stop solution but required an umbrella of solutions. Testing technologies in real world conditions was often challenging, while protecting intellectual property and achieving commercial scale-up were other hurdles.

Start-ups, particularly deep tech start-ups, needed consortium-based support as investors had to be patient during gestation period. Start-ups must also explore international support and generate early evidence to validate their technologies, she said.

Such consortium-based support from industries and the government would pull out ideas from the lab and facilitate the emergence of new technologies, she added.

The session was moderated by Sangeetha Kandavel, Senior Assistant Editor, The Hindu.

Koot, a Coimbatore-based engineering solutions startup for pump and motor manufacturers, has plans to expand its global operations.

According to a press release, Koot, an industry-first platform in the pump and motor sector, spanning engineering design, research, development, and precision manufacturing services, has established technology and support centres in Germany, the U.S., and India, with its global manufacturing headquarters in India. It has more than 600 tier-two suppliers and is in discussion with global OEMs for strategic alliances.

Koot supplies pump and motor components such as impellers, casings, shafts, rotors, and sub-assemblies to companies such as HOMA of Germany, Pedrollo Group of Italy, and Hitachi of Japan. With focus on the US, European, and the Asian markets it plans to reach out to more customers in these geographies.

The company won the European PIA Supplier Award in 2025 and aims to become the preferred engineering and technology partner for more pump OEMs.

It currently employs about 30 people and will add 25 more in the engineering, research, and design services in the next 18 months.