Lok Sabha Question No. 2165 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-12
Subject: Start-up Ecosystem in North Eastern States
Ministry: DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION
Asked by: Shri Dilip Saikia

## Government of India Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

## LOK SABHA Unstarred Question No .2165

To be answered on

Wednesday, March 12, 2025/ 21 Phalguna, 1946 (Saka)

## QUESTION

## Start-up Ecosystem in North Eastern States

2165.   Shri Dilip Saikia:

Will the Minister of DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of various steps taken by the Government to ensure a balanced startup ecosystem in all North Eastern States;
- (b) the  measures  being  taken  to  ensure  adequate  access  to  financing  including venture capital, angel investments and credit facilities to start-ups in the North Eastern Region; and
- (c) the  specific  schemes  or  incentives  in  place  to  encourage  women  and  tribal entrepreneurs in the start-up ecosystem of this region?

## ANSWER

## The Minister of State of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region [Dr. Sukanta Majumdar]

- (a)  to  (b) The  Government,  with  an  intent  to  build  a  strong  ecosystem  for  nurturing innovation,  startups  and  encouraging  investments  in  the  startup  ecosystem  of  the country launched the Startup India initiative on 16th January 2016.

For the North Eastern States, 2,109 entities have been recognised as startups by DPIIT as on 31 st  January 2025.The same have been tabulated below:

| State             |   Certificates Issued as on 31 st January 2025 |
|-------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| Arunachal Pradesh |                                             55 |
| Assam             |                                           1514 |
| Manipur           |                                            185 |
| Meghalaya         |                                             63 |
| Mizoram           |                                             44 |
| Nagaland          |                                             88 |
| Sikkim            |                                             13 |
| Tripura           |                                            147 |
| Total             |                                           2109 |

North  Eastern  Finance  Development  Corporation  Ltd.  (NEDFi),  is  a  Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) under administrative control of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region. NEDFi  has  been  contributing towards building startup ecosystem of  North  East  Region  (NER) of  India.  NEDFi  has launched  and  managed three SEBI registered venture capital funds. Also, NEDFi has tied up with Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), a PSU to launch NRL Ideation Angel Fund (NRL IAF).

Ministry  of  Development  of  North  Eastern  Region  (MDoNER)  through  NEDFi  had created the North East Venture Fund (NEVF). Under NEVF till date, 69 startups have received Investment commitment of around Rs. 100 crore.

- (c) A List of initiatives undertaken by the DPIIT for promotion of entrepreneurship in Northeastern states under Startup India, are as follow:
1. ASCEND  Startup  Workshop  Series  and  Women  for  Startups  Workshops : The  Government  organized  a  series  of  startup  workshops  -  ASCEND  (Accelerating Startup Calibre & Entrepreneurial Drive), for entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, and students from the North-eastern region.
2. Knowledge  Exchange  and  Capacity  Building  Workshops :  DPIIT  organized knowledge  exchange  workshops  for  dissemination  of  good  practices  and  mutual learning among States and UTs.
3. Startup India Yatra Initiative : Startup India launched Startup India Yatra in 2017 to promote entrepreneurship in rural and non-metro regions across States.
4. WING : As a part of DPIIT's program WING - a capacity development program for existing and aspiring women entrepreneurs
5. District Outreach Initiative: DPIIT is promoting entrepreneurship by striving to establish at least one DPIIT-recognized startup in every district of India.

******