Lok Sabha Question No. 1655 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-13
Subject: Startup India Initiative
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Jaskaur Meena

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1655. TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 13 TH  DECEMBER, 2023.

## STARTUP INDIA INITIATIVE

## 1655.  SHRIMATI JASKAUR MEENA:

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

- (a) the salient features of Startup India initiative;
- (b) the details of the funds sanctioned, allocated and utilized under the said initiative in Rajasthan;
- (c) the  details  of  various  programmes  launched  by  the  Government  to  promote Startup in Rajasthan under Startup India initiative;
- (d) the number of institutions recognised as Startups so far under the said initiative in Rajasthan;
- (e) the targets fixed and the achievements made so far under the said initiative; and
- (f) the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  promote  the  said  initiative, particularly in rural areas?

## ANSWER

## वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्रालय में राज्य मंत्री ( श्री सोम प्रकाश ) THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI SOM PARKASH)

- (a): The  Government  with  an  intent  to  build  a  strong  ecosystem  for nurturing innovation and encouraging investments launched the Startup  India initiative on 16th January 2016.

The Government unveiled an Action Plan for Startups comprising of schemes and incentives envisaged to create a vibrant startup ecosystem in the country. 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'. For attaining specific objectives  of  the  Action  Plan,  various  programs  are  implemented  by  the Government  under  the  Startup  India  initiative  to  recognize,  develop,  and empower startup ecosystem.

- (b): The flagship Schemes, namely, Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) and Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) support startups at various  stages  of  their business  cycle  to  enable  startups  to  graduate  to  a  level where they are able to raise investments from angel investors or venture capitalists or seek loans from commercial banks or financial institutions.

|             | SISFS has been established to provide financial assistance to seed stage startups through incubators. Specifically for the State of Rajasthan, Rs. 47.78 crore has been approved and Rs. 24.07 crore has been disbursed to 12 incubators. The incubators approved under the Scheme have shortlisted 52 recognised startups from the State of Rajasthan for an approved total sum of Rs. 9.63 crore as on 31 st October 2023. FFS has been established to catalyze venture capital investments in Indian startup ecosystem. It is operationalized by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), which provides capital to SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) who in turn invest in startups. Specifically for the State of Rajasthan, AIFs supported under FFS have invested Rs. 252.98 crore in 18 startups as on 31 st October 2023.   |
|-------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (c) to (f): | For attaining specific objectives, various programs are implemented by the Government under the Startup India initiative. All the steps undertaken by the Government under the said initiative are inclusive and are implemented across States/Union Territories (UTs), cities, towns, and rural areas, including the State of Rajasthan. The details of such initiatives are placed as Annexure . Sustained efforts by the Government under the Startup India initiative have led to an increase in the number of recognised startups from over 300 in 2016 to 1,14,902 in 2023 as on 31 st October 2023. Specifically for the State of Rajasthan, there are a total of 4,029 DPIIT recognized startups as on 31 st October 2023.                                                                                                                                |

*********

## ANNEXURE

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) to (f) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1655 FOR ANSWER ON 13.12.2023.

The details of various programs undertaken by the Government to promote startups under the Startup India initiative across the country are as under:

1. Startup India Action Plan: An Action Plan for Startup India was unveiled 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'.  The  Action Plan  laid  the  foundation  of  Government  support,  schemes  and  incentives envisaged to create a vibrant startup ecosystem in the country.
2. Startup India: The Way  Ahead: Startup  India:  The Way  Ahead at  5  years celebration of Startup India was unveiled on 16th 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Regulatory Reforms: Over 55 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.
7. 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) also facilitates and promotes procurement of products and services by the Government from startups.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. Startup India Hub: The Government launched a Startup India Online Hub on 19th 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.
14. 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 20 countries that provides a soft-landing platform for startups from the partner nations and aid in promoting cross collaboration.
15. 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, EnterpriseTech,  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.
16. 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.
17. 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, Government  Connect,  International  Market  Access,  Regulatory  Support, Startup Champions on Doordarshan and Startup India Showcase, etc.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. Startup  India  Innovation  Week: The  Government  organises  Startup  India Innovation week around the National Startup Day i.e., 16th 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.
21. ASCEND: Under  ASCEND  (Accelerating  Startup  Caliber  &  Entrepreneurial Drive), sensitization workshops  on  startups and  entrepreneurship  were conducted for all eight North Eastern States with the objective to capacitate and augment knowledge on key aspects of entrepreneurship and continue efforts towards creating a robust startup ecosystem in these States.
22. The Startup India Investor Connect Portal has been co-developed under the Startup India Initiative with SIDBI, serving as an intermediary platform that links startups and investors in order to help entrepreneurs from various industries, functions, stages, regions, and backgrounds in mobilizing capital. The portal has been built with the aim to enable in particular; early-stage startups located anywhere in the country to showcase themselves to leading investors/ venture capital funds.
23. National Mentorship Portal (MAARG) :  In  order  to  facilitate  accessibility  to mentorship for startups in every part of the country, the Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth (MAARG) program has been developed and launched under the Startup India Initiative.

**********