Lok Sabha Question No. 4221 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-01-07
Subject: India Venture Capital Summit
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: VIJAY KUMAR S.R.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

## DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL POLICY & PROMOTION

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4221. TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY, THE 7 TH  JANUARY, 2019.

## INDIA VENTURE CAPITAL SUMMIT

## 4221.  SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state:

## वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री

- (a) whether the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has hosted the annual start-up India Venture Capital Summit in Goa recently;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with its aims and objectives;
- (c) the  number  of  participants  who  have  participated  in  the  summit  including international start-ups and global fund manager;
- (d) the number of start-ups recognized by the DIPP during the current year i.e. 2018;  and
- (e) the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  make  India  as  most preferred start-up destination in the world?

## ANSWER

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

## वाणिज् य एवं उद्योग मंत्रालय में राज् यमंत्री (श्री सी.आर. चौधरी) (SHRI C.R. CHAUDHARY)

- (a): Yes, madam, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion hosted Startup India Global Venture Capital Summit 2018 which was held on 7 th December 2018 in Goa.
- (b): Startup India Global Venture Capital Summit 2018 was a unique gathering of Global  Fund  Managers,  Limited  Partners,  Officials  from  the  Government  of India and path-breaking startups. The dialogue focused on the huge returngenerating  potential  of  India's  vast  and  diverse  market  monetized  through cutting-edge  technologies  supported  by  investor-friendly  regulations.  The objectives of the Summit were:
- i. Showcasing  the  opportunities  in  India  by discussing  and  highlighting sectors that provide a wide array of investible opportunities
- ii. Increasing  capital  flow  for  Indian  startups  by showcasing  high  quality tech & non tech Indian startups to the global investor community
- iii. Fostering ease of doing business by Identifying and discussing issues raised by investor community
- (c): The event was attended by 30 Startups of which 27 were Indian Startups and 3 Startups were from the United States of America. The number of Indian and foreign Venture Capital funds that attended the summit is given below:
- (d): 8,993 startups were recognised by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion during the calendar year 2018.
- (e): The  Government  has  taken  a  number  of  steps  to  make  India  the  most preferred startup destination in the world. Details are at Annexure I.

|   S. No. | Country   |   Unique Funds |
|----------|-----------|----------------|
|        1 | India     |             45 |
|        2 | Japan     |             12 |
|        3 | USA       |              3 |
|        4 | China     |              2 |
|        5 | Hong Kong |              2 |
|        6 | Korea     |              1 |
|        7 | Russia    |              1 |
|        8 | Singapore |              1 |
|        9 | Sri Lanka |              1 |

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (e)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4221 FOR ANSWER ON 7 TH  JANUARY, 2019.

## Steps taken to make India the most preferred startup destination in the world

1.  Startup India Portal (www.startupindia.gov.in) is a one-stop platform for all stakeholders (Startups, Investors, Incubators, Accelerators, and Government  Agencies,  Indian  public  and  foreign  academia,  Service Providers  and  public  users)  in  the  Startup  ecosystem  to  interact  and  to collaborate in a highly dynamic  environment.  The  hub provides a collaborative platform for all stakeholders of the Startup ecosystem to have interactive engagement to enhance and bolster the ecosystem.

As  on  27th  December  2018,  2,86,609  users  have  registered  on  Startup India  Online  Portal  which  includes  34,521  Startups  and  663  Ecosystem Builders  comprising  of  Incubators,  Accelerators,  Investors,  Mentors  and Govt  Departments.  The  Startup  India  online  portal  hosts  the  following resources for all Startups and Startup aspirants:

- i. Pro Bono Services: Startup India has a number of partners that are offering  their  services  to  startups  for  free,  including  cloud  credits, software packages, legal guidance, consultancy services, etc.
- ii. Tools & Templates: Startup India has curated a number of tools that can help startups in scaling up their business, draft a pitch deck and prepare legal contracts.
- iii. Open Challenges & Programs: Startups can apply for various open programs  to  get  access  to  cash  prizes,  incubators,  accelerators, market access support, international programs, workshops, events, etc.
2.  Startup India has facilitated 668 startups since the launch of the program. The  Startup  India  team  also  facilitates  startups  with  respect  to  availing benefits offered under Startup India or in assisting the startup as per their needs  and  requirements  like  business  advisory,  mentorship,  providing relevant  investor  connects  etc.  As  on  27th  December  2018,  1,20,360 queries have been addressed by the Startup India Hub. The breakup of the queries addressed is given below:
- i. 89,070 through call center,
- ii. 29,490 through email, and
- iii. 1800 through twitter
3.  To  promote  entrepreneurship  in  rural  and  non-metro  regions  across States,  grassroot  Startup  aspirants  are  provided  incubation,  mentorship and funding support through the Startup India Yatra. The programme has been conducted across 15 state. As on date, 75,000 students have been

impacted  and  860  incubation  offers  have  been  offered  through  Startup India Yatra.

4.  As on 1 st January 2019, 15,000 Startups have been recognized under the programme. Recognized Startups are eligible for following benefits:
- i. Self-Certification under 6 Labour Laws & 3 Environmental Laws
- ii. Relaxations in Public Procurement Norms
- iii. Faster exit under the Bankruptcy Code
- iv. Rebates  on  Patent  &  Trademark  filing  fees, support  from facilitators and expedited examination of Patent application
- v. Income Tax exemption
- vi. Exemption from Income Tax on investments received above fair market value.
- vii. The  Inter-Ministerial  Board  setup  by  Department  of  Industrial Policy and Promotion validates Startups for granting tax related benefits.  94 startups have received income tax exemption for 3 out of 7 years.
5.  Partnerships- Corporate, International and Government
- a)  Corporate Partnerships have been established with objective to encourage engagement between Industry and entrepreneurial community.  Startup  India  has  launched  several  partnerships  with prominent corporates to provide support to innovative startups. Some of the notable initiatives are:
- i.  Uber Exchange under which 6 mentorship sessions were conducted by Global Leaders at Uber. 600 Startups have received mentorship.
- ii.  Amazon  Launchpad  Platform  showcases  Innovative  products  of startups  on  Amazon's  online  marketplace.  Over  500  applications were received from Indian start-ups and over 130 applications were qualified. 30 Indian startups from the first batch have started selling on Amazon Global marketplace.
- iii. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud  services  platform  offering computing  power,  database  storage,  content  delivery  etc.  to  help business scale and grow. $300,000 worth of AWS cloud credits have been disbursed to DIPP recognised startups (free of cost).
- iv. InFinIT20 (Partnership with RBL Bank) is a program offering over 200 hours of mentorship from industry experts and investment opportunity to 20 fintech start-ups.
- v. Zoho  is a suite of  software applications  which  include  annual subscriptions for ZohoOne costing Rs.2499/year. ZohoOne has been made available to all Startup India Online Portal users for free for a period  of  1  year.  230  startups  have  subscribed  to  ZohoOne  -  Hub Partnership.
- b) International  Partnerships  have  been  established  with  the  objective  to promote  exchange  of  technology  and  best-practices  between  Startup ecosystems  in  India  and  other  countries.  Startup  India  has  partnered with ecosystems of countries like Israel, Portugal, Sweden, Japan etc.

The  Indo-Israel  Innovation  challenge  was  launched  by  the  Hon'ble Prime  Ministers  of  India  and  Israel  (July  2017),  calling  on  Israeli  and Indian  startups  to  combine  forces  to  develop  solutions  for  critical problems in the field of agriculture, water and healthcare. The challenge was  hosted  online  and  received  over  665  applications  from  Indian innovators and startups. 18 Startups were selected from the challenge and were awarded cash prizes and free of cost incubation.

- c)  Startup  India  collaborated  with  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  launched  an online    Agriculture  Grand  Challenge  inviting  solutions  on  12  problem statements in  December 2017. Winners of the challenge have received mentorship, free of cost incubation for a period of 3 months, opportunities to conduct pilot programs and funding support in the form of grants.
6. Startup India Hub works with State Governments and UTs to build local startup  ecosystem.  Odisha,  Goa,  Uttarakhand,  Assam  and  Jammu  and Kashmir have been provided below mentioned services:
- i. State Startup Ranking Framework Guidance
- ii. Formulating State Startup Policy and Operational Guidelines
- iii. Government Sensitization
- iv. Recommendation on Easing the Regulatory Reforms
- v. Event Support
- vi. Customized Programs and Problem Identification for the State

In  order  to  highlight  the  achievements  made  by  State  governments,  to foster competitiveness amongst  State governments  and  to  facilitate learning of best practices.  The  'State/UT  Ranking  Framework'  was launched by DIPP in February 2018. The framework was spread across 7 areas of interventions with a total of 38 action points. An online portal was also  launched,  which  was  instrumental  in  enabling  States  seamlessly submit their initiatives across these reform areas.

The  entire  exercise  was  conducted  for  capacity  development  and  to further  the  spirit  of  cooperative  federalism.  Awareness  Workshops  in  all States, Knowledge Workshops in leading incubators, pairing of States for intensive  mentoring,  international  exposure  visits  to  US  and  Israel  and intensive  engagement  between  the  States  with  Startup  India  team,  and Video Conferencing have helped many States initiate effective measures to support Startups.

7. Some  of  the  regulatory  compliances  liberalized  for  Startups  are  given below:
- i. Definition of 'eligible business' as stated in Section 80-IAC aligned with Startups definition
- ii. 25% corporate tax slabs for companies with an annual turnover of less than INR 250 crores
- iii. Exemption from providing cash flow statement as part of financial statements
- iv. Startups  can  borrow  up  to  $3  million  or  equivalent  per  financial year,  either  in  rupees,  or  any  convertible  foreign  currency  or  a combination of both, for a minimum average maturity period of three years
- v. SEBI registered Foreign venture capital investors (FVCI), allowed to invest in equity or equity linked instrument or debt instrument issued by an Indian 'startup' irrespective of the sector in which the startup is engaged under automatic route.
8. To  encourage  and  impart  fundamentals  of  entrepreneurship  to  Startup aspirants and early    stage Startups, a 4-week long free-of-cost e-learning program was introduced on web and mobile in English and Hindi on the Startup  India  portal.  As  on  27th  December  2018,  2,33,278  users  have logged in on the Learning and Development Program.

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