Gurugram (Haryana) [India], June 10 (ANI): EaseMyTrip Co-Founder Rikant Pittie on Wednesday extended his congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for becoming India's longest-serving elected Prime Minister and said that under his visionary leadership, the country has witnessed a remarkable transformation, fast economic growth and is emerging as a global innovation hub.
Rikant Pittie told ANI that the initiatives started by the government like Startup India, Digital India, Make in India, UPI, and ONDC have empowered entrepreneurs and created an ecosystem where Indian startups can actually dream big and can scale globally.
"As an entrepreneur, I have personally seen the change. Today, India's startup ecosystem has grown from a few hundred startups in 2016 to more than two lakh startups. India is the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. The startups in India are contributing to more than 25 lakhs direct jobs," he said.
Rikant Pittie said EaseMyTrip's journey "from a bootstrapped Indian startup to a public-listed company" also reflects the opportunities created by this new India.
"EaseMyTrip was the first consumer-facing startup to get listed on the Indian stock exchanges. Inspired by our Prime Minister's vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', we are also expanding beyond travel into sectors which contribute towards nation-building and hence transforming to become a tourism infra company than just being an online travel company," he said.
"Through many of our subsidiaries, just to give an example, like through our subsidiary Easy Green Mobility, we are working towards manufacturing electric buses in India and hence supporting cleaner transportation, job creation, and also India's green mobility mission. We got best of the teams to start working on it and as being a startup, we could not imagine that we will get lots of support from the government in a way that we have got orders from multiple states and we are still talking to multiple states by showcasing what we have developed in terms of buses, and we believe that we can literally scale this to multiple heights and not only in India and can also scale globally," he added.
"Through our subsidiary again, Spree Hotels, which has 70 hotels, we are also working towards an eco-hospitality division wherein we are looking to start greener hotels in different parts of India. Again, through our initiative Easy Darshan, which is based on pilgrimage tourism; through our again initiative Easy Vijay, which is based on battlefield tourism; and several other initiatives, we are strengthening India's tourism ecosystem and showcasing Bharat's heritage to the world," he added.
Rikant Pittie also talked about the subsidiary in the aviation sector, which is "contributing towards premium aviation services" and another subsidiary, which is "helping the students to go global".
He said they have also started an initiative in skilling. "We are also contributing towards the vision of 'Viksit Bharat' wherein our Prime Minister has envisioned that we should have Viksit Bharat by 2047. So we'll continue building Indian brands that will create employment and also do innovation and get global recognition," he said.
In a post on X earlier, Rikant Pittie hailed PM Modi's leadership, saying it has helped redefine India's growth story.
"Twelve years of decisive leadership have helped redefine India's growth story through policy reforms, digital transformation, infrastructure expansion, and enhanced global standing. As the nation moves forward with renewed confidence, industry looks forward to contributing to the vision of a stronger, more competitive, and future-ready India," he said.
The Union Cabinet today passed a resolution marking June 10, 2026, as an historic milestone in the journey of Indian democracy, applauding Narendra Modi for becoming the longest-serving elected Prime Minister of the country. By establishing a record of 4,399 days of continuous service as an elected PM, he has surpassed the previous record held by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who served for 4,398 continuous days from 1952 to 1964.
The resolution stated that this occasion stands as a symbol of India's democratic consciousness, public trust, and the power of public participation, reflecting the unprecedented support bestowed by the people upon a leader guided by the 'Nation First' resolve. (ANI)
