Hyderabad, Dec 8 (PTI): India has witnessed USD 38 billion investments in tech companies during the past six months when the whole world is reeling under COVID-19 pandemic, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Tuesday.

Speaking in a session of the three-day TiE Global Summit (TGS)being held virtually, Kant said the Indian startup ecosystem witnessed launch of more than 55,000 start- ups which had raised over USD 60 billion in funding in the last five years and currently home to about 34 unicorns and 52 soonicorns (soon to be unicorns) with a potential to become unicorns by 2022.

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"While the world is reeling under the impact of COVID-19 pandemic India has seen tech investments crossing over USD 38 billion in the just last five or six months and this is absolutely massive and speaks volumes about potential of India, particularly when it comes to the technology," he said in an interactive session.

Replying to query, he said artificial intelligence is going to become one of the biggest opportunities for India with respect to technology applications and the emerging technology is expected to add USD 957 billion to the Indian economy by 2035.

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On data protection, the official said in an evolving and fast changing digital landscape India we not only need stronger data protection but also data empowerment.

He said India currently has over 650 million internet users adding a connection every three seconds while it is the largest consumer of data in the world with over 500 million smartphone users.

Kant opined that Indian family business houses in a big way need to come forwards to invest in startups.PTI GDK SS

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)