Lok Sabha Question No. 281 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-21
Subject: Startup Scheme for Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Malook Nagar, Ramesh Chandra Majhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 281

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.07.2023

## STARTUP SCHEME FOR WOMEN

## 281.     SHRI MALOOK NAGAR:

- SHRI RAMESH CHANDRA MAJHI:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has formulated any special startup scheme to create self employment opportunities for women;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the amount of funds sanctioned for the said scheme; and
- (d) if not, the time by which the said scheme is likely to be launched?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI )

(a) to (d) : The Government has launched 'Startup India initiative' on 16th January 2016 with an aim to build a stronger ecosystem for nurturing India's startup culture that would further drive our economic growth, support entrepreneurship, and enable large-scale employment opportunities. It, inter alia, assists in strengthening women entrepreneurship, through policies and initiatives, and creation of enabling networks.

Under  this  initiative,  entities  are  recognized  by  the  Department  for  Promotion  of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as startups as per eligibility conditions prescribed under G.S.R. notification 127 (E) dated 19 th  February, 2019.

As on 31 st  December 2022, a total of 86,713 startups have been recognized by DPIIT in over 660 districts with at least one startup from every State and UT of the country. Out of these, over 46% of them have at-least one-woman director.

Further,  Government  has  also  taken  following  measures  to  promote  women entrepreneurship in the country:

- i. To promote flow of both equity and debt to women led startups, 10% of the fund (Rs 1000 crore) in the Fund of Funds for Startups Scheme operated by SIDBI is reserved for women led startups.
- ii. Virtual  Incubation  Program  for  Women  Entrepreneurs  were  conducted  to support 20 women-led tech startups with pro-bono acceleration support for 3 months.
- iii. A  webpage  dedicated  to  women  entrepreneurs  has  been  designed  on  the Startup  India  portal.  The  page  includes  various  policy  measures  for  women entrepreneurs by both Central and State Governments.
- iv. Awareness  and  Capacity  Building  Workshops  for  women:  The  department conducts various  workshops with a specific focus on women entrepreneurs. The workshops include deliberation on various topics and successful entrepreneurs  share  their  entrepreneurial  journeys.  The  participants  of  the sessions conducted comprised of many women, including both aspiring and existing entrepreneurs.
- v. WING: As a part of DPIIT's program WING - a capacity development program for  existing  and  aspiring  women  entrepreneurs was conducted in Guwahati, Assam and Kohima, Nagaland in January 2020 which saw participation from 114  attendees  across  two  parallel  workshops.  The  participants  were  given mentoring sessions in the following areas:
- a. Venture Ideation and Business Model Validation
- b. Governance: Legal/ Compliance
- c. Marketing/ Branding: Creating differential
- d. Finance & Financial Decisions
- e. Mastering Customer Acquisition Strategy & Scaling-up
- vi. Through its various awareness programmes and capacity building programmes organized  by  the  Government,  and  through  print  media  and  social  media platforms, the Government also creates awareness about the existing schemes which  support  micro,  small  and  medium  entrepreneurs,  including  women entrepreneurs.

Further,  the  details  of  various  programs  undertaken  under  Startup  India  initiative, which are gender neutral, are as under:

-  Startup India Action Plan : An Action Plan for Startup India was unveiled on 16 th   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'.  The  Action Plan  laid  the  foundation  of  Government  support,  schemes  and  incentives envisaged to create a vibrant startup ecosystem in the country.
-  Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) Scheme : The Government has established FFS with corpus of Rs. 10,000 crore, to meet the funding needs of startups. DPIIT is the monitoring agency and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is the operating agency for FFS. The total corpus of Rs. 10,000 crore is envisaged to be provided over the 14th and 15th Finance Commission cycles

based on progress of the scheme and availability of funds. It has not only made capital available for startups at early stage, seed stage and growth stage but also played a catalytic role in terms of facilitating raising of domestic capital, reducing dependence on foreign capital and encouraging home grown and new venture capital funds.

-  Credit  Guarantee  Scheme  for  Startups  (CGSS) :  The  Government  has established  the  Credit  Guarantee  Scheme  for  Startups  for  providing  credit guarantees  to  loans  extended  to  DPIIT  recognized  startups  by  Scheduled Commercial Banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Venture Debt  Funds  (VDFs)  under  SEBI  registered  Alternative  Investment  Funds. CGSS is aimed at providing credit guarantee up to a specified limit against loans extended by Member Institutions (MIs) to finance eligible borrowers viz. DPIIT recognised startups.
-  Regulatory Reforms :  Over 50 regulatory reforms have been undertaken by the Government since 2016 to enhance ease of doing business, ease of raising capital and reduce compliance burden for the startup ecosystem.
-  Ease  of  Procurement :  To  enable  ease  of  procurement,  Central  Ministries/ Departments  are  directed  to  relax  conditions  of  prior  turnover  and  prior experience in public procurement for all DPIIT recognised startups subject to meeting quality and technical specifications. Further, Government eMarketplace (GeM) Startup Runway has been developed which is a dedicated corner for startups to sell products and services directly to the Government.
-  Support for Intellectual Property Protection :  Startups are eligible for fasttracked patent application examination and disposal.  The  Government launched Start-ups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) which facilitates the startups  to  file  applications  for  patents,  designs  and  trademarks  through registered facilitators in appropriate IP offices by paying only the statutory fees. Facilitators under this Scheme are responsible for providing general advisory on different IPRs, and information on protecting and promoting IPRs in other countries.  The  Government  bears  the  entire  fees  of  the  facilitators  for  any number of patents, trademark or designs, and startups only bear the cost of the statutory fees payable. Startups are provided with an 80% rebate in filing of patents and 50% rebate in filling of trademark vis-a-vis other companies.
-  Self-Certification  under  Labour  and  Environmental  laws :  Startups  are allowed to self-certify their compliance under 9 Labour and 3 Environment laws for a period of 3 to 5 years from the date of incorporation.
-  Income Tax Exemption for 3 years: Startups incorporated on or after 1st April 2016 can apply for income tax exemption. The recognized startups that are granted an Inter-Ministerial Board Certificate are exempted from income-tax for a period of 3 consecutive years out of 10 years since incorporation.
-  International Market Access to Indian Startups : One of the key objectives under the Startup India initiative is to help connect Indian startup ecosystem to global startup ecosystems through various engagement models. This has been done though international Government to Government partnerships, participation in international forums and hosting of global events. Startup India

has launched bridges with over 15 countries (Brazil, Sweden, Russia, Portugal, UK,  Finland,  Netherlands,  Singapore,  Israel,  Japan,  South  Korea,  Canada, Croatia, Qatar and UAE) that provides a soft-landing platform for startups from the partner nations and aid in promoting cross collaboration.

-  Faster Exit for Startups : The Government has notified Startups as 'fast track firms' enabling them to wind up operations within 90 days vis-a-vis 180 days for other companies.
-  Startup India Hub : The Government launched a Startup India Online Hub on 19 th  June 2017 which is one of its kind online platform for all stakeholders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India to discover, connect and engage with each other. The Online Hub hosts Startups, Investors, Funds, Mentors, Academic Institutions,  Incubators,  Accelerators,  Corporates,  Government  Bodies  and more.
-  Exemption for the Purpose Of Clause (VII)(b) of Sub-section (2) of Section 56 of the Act (2019) : A DPIIT recognized startup is eligible for exemption from the provisions of section 56 (2) (viib) of the Income Tax Act.
-  Startup  India  Showcase :  Startup  India  Showcase  is  an  online  discovery platform for the most promising startups of the country chosen through various programs  for  startups  exhibited  in  a  form  of  virtual  profiles.  The  startups showcased on the platform have distinctly emerged as the best in their fields. These innovations span across various cutting-edge sectors such as Fintech, EntrepriseTech,  Social  Impact,  HealthTech,  EdTech,  among  others.  These startups are solving critical problems and have shown exceptional innovation in their respective sectors. Ecosystem stakeholders have nurtured and supported these startups, thereby validating their presence on this platform.
-  National Startup Advisory Council : The Government in January 2020 notified constitution of the National Startup Advisory Council to advise the Government on measures needed to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities. Besides the ex-officio members, the council has a number of non-official members, representing various stakeholders from the startup ecosystem.
-  Startup India: The Way  Ahead :  Startup  India:  The  Way  Ahead  at  5  years celebration of Startup India was unveiled on 16 th  January 2021 which includes actionable plans for promotion of ease of doing business for startups, greater role of technology  in executing  various reforms, building capacities of stakeholders and enabling a digital Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
-  Startup  India  Seed  Fund  Scheme  (SISFS): Easy  availability  of  capital  is essential for entrepreneurs at the early stages of growth of an enterprise. The capital  required  at  this  stage  often  presents  a  make-or-break  situation  for startups  with  good  business  ideas.  The  Scheme  aims  to  provide  financial assistance  to  startups  for  proof  of  concept,  prototype  development,  product trials, market entry and commercialization. Rs. 945 crore has been sanctioned under the SISFS Scheme for period of 4 years starting from 2021-22.
-  National Startup Awards (NSA) :  National Startup Awards is an initiative to recognize and reward outstanding startups and ecosystem enablers that are building  innovative  products or  solutions and  scalable  enterprises, with  high potential of employment generation or wealth creation, demonstrating measurable social impact. Handholding support is provided to all the finalists across various tracks viz. Investor Connect, Mentorship, Corporate Connect, Govt.  Connect,  International  Market  Access,  Regulatory  Support,  Startup Champions on Doordarshan and Startup India Showcase, etc.
-  States'  Startup  Ranking  Framework  (SRF) : States' Startup Ranking Framework is a unique initiative to harness strength of competitive federalism and create a flourishing startup ecosystem in the country. The major objectives of the ranking exercise are facilitating states to identify, learn and replace good practices, highlighting  the policy  intervention  by  states for  promoting  startup ecosystem and fostering competitiveness among states.
-  Startup  Champions  on  Doordarshan :  Startup  Champions  program  on Doordarshan is a one-hour weekly program covering stories of award winning/ nationally recognised startups. It is telecasted in both Hindi and English across Doordarshan network channels.
-  Startup  India  Innovation  Week :  The  Government  organises  Startup  India Innovation week around the National Startup Day i.e. 16 th  January, with the primary goal was to bring together the country's key startups, entrepreneurs, investors, incubators, funding entities, banks, policymakers, and other national/international stakeholders to celebrate entrepreneurship and promote innovation.

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