22% of Indian College Students Have Started Businesses, GUESSS India 2025 Finds

About 22 per cent of Indian college students have already started a business, while 43 per cent want to become entrepreneurs, according to the GUESSS India 2025 National Survey Report released by IIT Mandi in partnership with REVA University.

The survey covered 25,783 students from more than 1,200 higher education institutions across 34 states and Union Territories. The findings indicate growing interest in entrepreneurship, alongside changes in students’ immediate career preferences.

The proportion of students planning to start a business directly after graduation rose from 14 per cent in 2023 to 16.2 per cent in 2025. During the same period, preference for government jobs declined from 12.7 per cent to 10.1 per cent, while interest in employment at large companies fell from 31.3 per cent to 27.4 per cent.

The report identified information technology, artificial intelligence and digital services as the most common areas of interest among prospective student entrepreneurs. However, only around one in 10 operating student businesses was digital.

It also found that students with entrepreneurs among their relatives, friends, classmates or teachers were three times more likely to start a venture than those without such connections.

According to the report, half of the students surveyed did not know an entrepreneur beyond their parents, while only seven per cent knew a professor who ran a business.

The findings also highlighted the role of entrepreneurship education and university support. Students rated entrepreneurship education at 4.50 out of seven, compared with the global average of 4.34.

Among students enrolled in dedicated entrepreneurship programmes who intended to launch businesses, 66 per cent had already started a venture. Meanwhile, 25 per cent of student founders with businesses generating income had received support through their own university’s incubation facilities.

However, converting business ideas into sales remained a challenge. Only 10 per cent of students still developing their businesses had made their first sale, compared with 23 per cent globally.

The report, titled How Do We Make Student Entrepreneurs?, was authored by Dr Puran Singh and Prerak Sharma. The survey was conducted between September and December 2025.