Lok Sabha Question No. 4049 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-17
Subject: Women Entrepreneurs under Startup India Campaign
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Hemant Tukaram Godse

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT FOR PROMOTION OF INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL TRADE

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4049 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 17 th   JULY, 2019.

## WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS UNDER STARTUP INDIA CAMPAIGN

## 4049. SHRI HEMANT TUKARAM GODSE:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  fixed a target  for  women entrepreneurs under startup India campaign in the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  bank-wise  names  of  the  branches  which  have achieved the said target including the names of the branches which have not achieved the target so far;
- (c) the number of such districts in the country where startup India campaign has been started;
- (d) whether the startup India campaign is being reviewed by the Government  and  if  so,  the  details thereof alongwith  the number of such bank branches which are not taking interest in this regard and the action taken against these branches; and
- (e) the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE &INDUSTRY

## वाणिज् यएवंउद्योग मंत्रालयमेंराज् यमंत्री( श्रीसोम प्रकाश) (SHRI SOM PARKASH)

(a)to(e): Startup  India  initiative  was  announced  by  the  Prime  Minister  on  15th August, 2015. The flagship initiative aims to build a strong eco-system for  nurturing  innovation  and  Startups  in  the  country  that  will  drive sustainable  economic  growth  and  generate  large  scale  employment opportunities.   Further  to  this,  an  Action  Plan  for  Startup  India  was unveiled by the Prime Minister on 16th January 2016. The action plan comprises of 19 action items spanning across areas such as 'Simplification and handholding', 'Funding support and incentives' and 'Industry-academia partnership and incubation'.

Many  other  initiatives  beyond  the  Startup  India  Action  Plan  such  as Regulatory  Easing,  Participation  of  States  in  Strengthening  Startup Ecosystems,  Startup  Yatra,  Grand  Challenges,  International  Bilateral Cooperation  and  Encouraging  Women  Entrepreneurship  have  been undertaken  for  development  of  overall  growth  of  Startup  movement  in the country.

Currently,  there  are  no  loan  instruments  offered  under  Startup  India initiative.  As  such,  there  are  no  bank  wise  targets  under  Startup  India initiative. Recognised  Startups under Startup India initiative have, however, access to financing through Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS). The  Fund  of  Funds  has  been  established  with  a  total  corpus  of  Rs 10,000  crore.  The  Fund  of  Funds  for  start-ups  (FFS),  operated  and managed by SIDBI, do not invest directly in start-ups, but participate in the capital of Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The FFS contributes to the corpus of Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) for investing in equity and  equity  linked  instruments  of  various  Startups  at  early  stage,  seed stage and growth stages.

No targets have been fixed by the Department for women entrepreneurs.  However,  10%  of  the  total  corpus  of  Fund  of  Funds amounting to Rs 1000 crore, has been reserved for women led start-ups. Special interaction sessions of women entrepreneurs with Venture funds and investors  are  being  organized.  Special  efforts  are  being  made  for capacity building of women  entrepreneurs and all the programs organised  by  DPIIT  have  at  least  one  third  of  the  beneficiaries  as women.

There  are  19,747  recognised  startups  under  the  initiative  across  513 districts  covering all 29 States and 6 Union Territories.

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