India’s startup and corporate ecosystem, which the DPIIT recognises as the world’s third-largest with over two lakh registered firms, continues to reflect deep caste-based inequalities in access to capital and senior roles, with Scheduled Caste Indians holding less than 5% of senior corporate positions despite constituting over 20% of the national population, according to McKinsey estimates cited in the research documents.
The research documents cite analysis suggesting that bridging the equity gap for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe households could add $770 billion to India’s GDP by 2025-26. This figure is attributed to McKinsey estimates in the research compilation and should be treated as an analytical projection rather than a verified outcome. The research documents also note that traditional caste and social networks diminish the effectiveness of government startup support schemes for founders from marginalised backgrounds, with venture capital flowing more readily to those with established elite connections, according to research on caste and entrepreneurship cited in the documents.
Signs of Democratisation
Against this backdrop, there are measurable signs of geographic democratisation in entrepreneurship. Approximately 50% of DPIIT-recognised startups now originate from Tier-II and Tier-III cities including Indore, Kochi, and Jaipur, according to PIB’s Decade of Startup India report. Research on SC entrepreneurial motivation cited in the documents indicates that newer founders from Scheduled Caste backgrounds are increasingly driven by goals of independence and social standing rather than purely economic necessity — a shift that suggests entrepreneurship is becoming a tool for social mobility as well as financial gain.
A growing push for caste diversity audits within Environmental, Social, and Governance reporting frameworks and the emergence of dedicated caste inclusion platforms represent early-stage structural responses to the documented inequalities, according to the research documents. These initiatives remain nascent and their measurable corporate impact has not been independently assessed.