Lok Sabha Question No. 37 (STARRED), answered on 2025-12-02
Subject: DPIIT Recognized Startups
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Shri Naresh Ganpat Mhaske

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

STARRED QUESTION NO. 37. TO BE ANSWERED ON TUESDAY, THE 02 ND  DECEMBER, 2025.

## DPIIT RECOGNIZED STARTUPS

## *37. SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

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

## वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री

- (a) the number of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recognized  startups  and  the  details  of  the  startups  that  have  availed  tax exemptions under the Startup India initiative during the last ten years, sector, year and State-wise;
- (b) the details of the contribution of Indian startups to employment generation and the  number  of  jobs  that  have  been  created  as  per  Startup  India  records specially in Maharashtra;
- (c) the details of the key achievements of the Startup India Initiative since its launch in 2016 in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship across sectors and the steps taken by the Government to ease regulatory compliance and provide tax benefits to recognized startups;
- (d) the details of the steps taken by the Government to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among youth; and
- (e) whether the Government is considering to expand the scope of Startup India to support sectors like green technology, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER वाणिज्य  एवं उद्योग मंत्री )श्री पीयूष गोयल( THE MINISTER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI  PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 37 FOR ANSWER ON 02.12.2025

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

As on 31 st  October 2025, 1,97,692 entities have been recognized as startups by DPIIT.

Under Section 80-IAC of the Income Tax Act 1961, an eligible startup can claim a deduction of an amount equal to 100% of the profits and gains derived from eligible business for three consecutive assessment years. As on 31 st  October 2025, 4,147 recognised startups have received certificate of eligibility under Section  80-IAC. The  industry-wise  and  year-wise  details  are  placed  as Annexure-I .  The  State/Union  Territory  (UT)-wise  and  year-wise  details  are placed as Annexure-II .

- (b): As on 31 st  October 2025, the recognized startups have reported to have created over 21.11 lakh direct jobs. Particularly in  the State  of  Maharashtra, 34,444 entities have been recognized as startups by DPIIT, which have reported to have created more than 3.76 lakh direct jobs, as on 31 st  October 2025.

## (c): Key achievements under Startup India initiative

Sustained efforts by the Government under the Startup India initiative have led to  an  increase  in  the  number  of  entities  recognized  as  startups,  and  job creation,  as  detailed  above  in  answers  (a)  and  (b).  Of  the  total  entities recognized as startups, around 48% have at least one-woman director/partner as on 31 st  October 2025. Further, there are recognised startups in every State and UT in the country.

Under Startup India initiative, the Government is implementing three flagship Schemes, Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS) to provide funding opportunities  and  support  startups  across  sectors  at  various  stages  of  their business cycle. Under the FFS the entire corpus of Rs. 10,000 crore has been committed to 144 Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) as on 31 st  October 2025. Under the SISFS as well the entire corpus of Rs. 945 crore has been approved to 219 incubators as on 31 st  October 2025. Under CGSS, 311 loans amounting to  Rs.  755.25  crore  have  been  guaranteed  for  startup  borrowers  as  on  31 st October 2025.

As  on  31 st   October  2025,  four  editions  of  the  States'  Startup  Ranking Framework (SRF), and four editions of the National Startup Awards (NSA) have been undertaken which play an important role in the holistic development of the ecosystem  across  sectors,  by  strengthening  regional  startup  ecosystems across States/UTs and recognizing outstanding startups.

The  Government  also  actively  supported  two  editions  of  the  ecosystem-led initiative Startup Mahakumbh  which served as a vibrant platform for stakeholders to network and collaborate. To improve market access, more than

34,400  DPIIT  recognised  startups  have  been  on-boarded  on Government  e Marketplace (GeM) and over 4.8 lakh orders from public entities have been placed to the recognised startups with a cumulative value of over Rs. 47,500 crore as on 31 st  October 2025.

Further, as on 31 st  October 2025, more than 16,000 new patent applications have been filed by startups as a result of  reforms undertaken  in the  Indian Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime.

## Steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  ease  regulatory  compliance  and provide tax benefits to startups

For easing regulatory compliance across the country, Central Government has taken  several  initiatives  under  the  flagship  programme  of  Ease  of  Doing Business which includes Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP), the BusinessReady  assessment,  Jan  Vishwas  and  Reducing  Compliance  Burden  on Businesses and Citizens, and Cost of Regulation (CoR) exercise to identify and reform the areas of pain-points in terms of administrative costs for the services. Central Ministries/Departments, and States/UTs are actively engaged in selfidentification exercises, successfully reducing over 47,000 compliances. Out of the  total  reduced  compliances,  16,108  compliances  have  been  simplified, 22,287 compliances are digitized, 4,557 compliances are decriminalized, and redundancy has been removed in 4,270 compliances.

Further, the Government has undertaken several initiatives, policy measures, and  reforms  for  startups  and  small  businesses  to  avail  various  tax  related benefits. These include profit linked deductions under Section 80-IAC of the Income Tax Act 1961, deferring Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) in respect of income pertaining to Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP), relaxation for carry forward and set-off of loss, and relaxations on Goods and Services Tax (GST) for entrepreneurs located within eligible incubators, amongst others.

- (d): In  addition  to  the  programs  detailed  in  response  to  point  (c)  above,  various initiatives are being undertaken by line Ministries and Departments to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among youth through a whole-ofgovernment approach.  Details of such measures are placed as Annexure-III .
- (e): DPIIT  has  recognized  4,024  entities  as  startups  in  the  green  technology industry as on 31 st  October 2025.

While  all  the  steps  undertaken  by  the  Government  under  the  Startup  India initiative  are  inclusive  and  are  implemented  across  sectors  and  industries, certain key initiatives to specifically encourage and support innovation in areas related  to  green  technology  include  recognizing  innovations  with  focus  in sustainability as part of the National Startup Awards, organisation of grand challenges in collaboration with the ecosystem for climate-tech sector under the Bharat Startup Grand Challenge and hackathons for startups in climate tech innovation, and sustainable solutions.

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## ANNEXURE-I

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 37 FOR ANSWER ON 02.12.2025 .

The  industry-wise  and  year-wise  number  of  recognized  startups  which  have  received certificate of eligibility under Section 80-IAC, as on 31 st  October 2025 are as follows:

| Industry                            |   2016 |   2017 |   2018 |   2019 |   2020 |   2021 |   2022 |   2023 |   2024 |   2025 (as on 31st October 2025) |
|-------------------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|----------------------------------|
| Advertising                         |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      1 |      1 |      4 |     11 |      2 |                                6 |
| Aeronautics Aerospace & Defence     |      0 |      0 |      0 |      5 |      0 |      1 |     14 |     18 |      8 |                                8 |
| Agriculture                         |      0 |      4 |      1 |      7 |      7 |      4 |     28 |     84 |     28 |                               25 |
| AI                                  |      0 |      2 |      1 |      6 |      7 |      6 |     23 |     28 |     11 |                                5 |
| Airport Operations                  |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |                                0 |
| Analytics                           |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      0 |      3 |     11 |     20 |      4 |                                3 |
| Animation                           |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      1 |      1 |      2 |      1 |                                0 |
| AR VR (Augmented + Virtual Reality) |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      0 |      1 |      5 |      5 |      4 |                                2 |
| Architecture Interior Design        |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      5 |     16 |      5 |                                5 |
| Art & Photography                   |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      4 |      1 |                                2 |
| Automotive                          |      0 |      1 |      1 |      1 |      2 |      1 |     18 |     33 |     12 |                               17 |
| Biotechnology                       |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      3 |      6 |      1 |                                1 |
| Chemicals                           |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |     11 |     34 |     13 |                               11 |
| Computer Vision                     |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      3 |      2 |      0 |                                2 |
| Construction                        |      0 |      1 |      0 |      3 |      3 |      0 |     16 |    110 |     39 |                               41 |
| Dating Matrimonial                  |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |                                0 |
| Design                              |      0 |      1 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      3 |      5 |     17 |      1 |                                6 |
| Education                           |      0 |      4 |      0 |     11 |      6 |      8 |     45 |     89 |     23 |                               24 |
| Enterprise Software                 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      5 |      1 |      1 |     18 |     32 |     11 |                                5 |
| Events                              |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      5 |      2 |                                1 |
| Fashion                             |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      0 |      0 |      4 |     38 |     12 |                               12 |
| Finance Technology                  |      0 |      0 |      0 |      7 |      4 |      1 |     37 |     59 |     24 |                               16 |
| Food & Beverages                    |      0 |      0 |      0 |      5 |      4 |      0 |     18 |     80 |     19 |                               16 |
| Green Technology                    |      0 |      9 |      1 |      2 |      4 |      4 |     23 |     39 |     23 |                               10 |
| Healthcare & Lifesciences           |      4 |     12 |      4 |     20 |      7 |     15 |     69 |    196 |     67 |                               53 |
| House-Hold Services                 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      0 |     14 |      3 |                                4 |
| Human Resources                     |      0 |      0 |      0 |      3 |      0 |      1 |      5 |     28 |      7 |                                5 |
| Indic Language Startups             |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      7 |      0 |                                1 |
| Internet of Things                  |      0 |      1 |      0 |      5 |      3 |      3 |      8 |     16 |      3 |                                4 |

| Industry                           |   2016 |   2017 |   2018 |   2019 |   2020 |   2021 |   2022 |   2023 |   2024 |   2025 (as on 31st October 2025) |
|------------------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|----------------------------------|
| IT Services                        |      0 |      4 |      0 |     19 |      6 |     11 |     95 |    256 |     77 |                               50 |
| Logistics                          |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      4 |      7 |      1 |                                2 |
| Marketing                          |      0 |      0 |      0 |      5 |      0 |      2 |      5 |     36 |      8 |                                5 |
| Media & Entertainment              |      0 |      0 |      0 |      4 |      0 |      0 |      8 |     20 |      6 |                                4 |
| Nanotechnology                     |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      7 |      1 |                                1 |
| Non- Renewable Energy              |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |     14 |      4 |                                3 |
| Other Specialty Retailers          |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      1 |      3 |     18 |      7 |                                5 |
| Others                             |      2 |     12 |      0 |      3 |      1 |      1 |     19 |     53 |     13 |                               11 |
| Pets & Animals                     |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      1 |      0 |      1 |      3 |      3 |                                0 |
| Professional & Commercial Services |      0 |      0 |      0 |      5 |      2 |      2 |     33 |    113 |     45 |                               33 |
| Real Estate                        |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      1 |     22 |      2 |                                3 |
| Renewable Energy                   |      0 |      3 |      0 |      8 |      4 |      2 |     17 |     65 |     19 |                               29 |
| Retail                             |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      2 |      0 |     10 |     17 |     12 |                                7 |
| Robotics                           |      0 |      1 |      1 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      3 |      6 |      7 |                                5 |
| Safety                             |      0 |      2 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      4 |      2 |                                3 |
| Security Solutions                 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      2 |      0 |      0 |      5 |     18 |     11 |                                2 |
| Social Impact                      |      0 |      0 |      0 |      4 |      0 |      1 |      5 |      6 |      2 |                                1 |
| Social Network                     |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |                                2 |
| Sports                             |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      5 |      3 |      1 |                                2 |
| Technology Hardware                |      0 |      2 |      5 |      6 |      1 |      4 |     26 |    114 |     35 |                               30 |
| Telecommunicati on & Networking    |      0 |      1 |      0 |      2 |      0 |      0 |      6 |      9 |      8 |                                4 |
| Textiles & Apparel                 |      0 |      1 |      1 |      1 |      1 |      0 |      6 |     56 |     21 |                               27 |
| Toys and Games                     |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      5 |      1 |                                2 |
| Transportation & Storage           |      0 |      0 |      0 |      4 |      1 |      1 |      5 |     33 |      5 |                                9 |
| Travel & Tourism                   |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      2 |      1 |      8 |     26 |      5 |                               11 |
| Waste Management                   |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      5 |     17 |      4 |                               10 |
| Total                              |      6 |     64 |     17 |    160 |     73 |     80 |    653 |   1924 |    624 |                              546 |

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## ANNEXURE-II

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 37 FOR ANSWER ON 02.12.2025 .

The  State/UT-wise  and  year-wise  number  of  recognized  startups  which  have  received certificate of eligibility under Section 80-IAC, as on 31 st  October 2025 are as follows:

| State/UT                             |   2016 |   2017 |   2018 |   2019 |   2020 |   2021 |   2022 |   2023 |   2024 |   2025 (as on 31 st October 2025) |
|--------------------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|-----------------------------------|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands          |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |                                 1 |
| Andhra Pradesh                       |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      3 |     10 |      4 |                                 3 |
| Assam                                |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      5 |      8 |      1 |                                 5 |
| Bihar                                |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      3 |     13 |      2 |                                 9 |
| Chandigarh                           |      1 |      1 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      4 |      4 |                                 2 |
| Chhattisgarh                         |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      2 |     15 |      6 |                                 6 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |                                 1 |
| Delhi                                |      0 |     13 |      1 |     19 |     11 |     10 |     55 |    169 |     52 |                                50 |
| Goa                                  |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      0 |      0 |      5 |      5 |      3 |                                 1 |
| Gujarat                              |      0 |      6 |      2 |     15 |      5 |      4 |     45 |    345 |    126 |                               110 |
| Haryana                              |      0 |      3 |      0 |      9 |      8 |      3 |     38 |     96 |     31 |                                35 |
| Himachal Pradesh                     |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      6 |      3 |      1 |                                 0 |
| Jammu and Kashmir                    |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      3 |      3 |      0 |                                 0 |
| Jharkhand                            |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      9 |      4 |                                 5 |
| Karnataka                            |      2 |      9 |      4 |     23 |     10 |     14 |    104 |    168 |     54 |                                36 |
| Kerala                               |      0 |      3 |      1 |     11 |      1 |      2 |     18 |     49 |     11 |                                12 |
| Madhya Pradesh                       |      0 |      0 |      0 |      4 |      2 |      3 |     12 |     65 |     15 |                                19 |
| Maharashtra                          |      1 |     14 |      5 |     36 |     13 |     28 |    152 |    423 |    136 |                               116 |
| Manipur                              |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |                                 1 |
| Meghalaya                            |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      1 |      0 |                                 0 |
| Odisha                               |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      2 |      0 |     10 |     16 |      2 |                                 8 |
| Puducherry                           |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      3 |      1 |                                 0 |
| Punjab                               |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      5 |     39 |     12 |                                 6 |
| Rajasthan                            |      0 |      1 |      0 |      6 |      2 |      0 |     23 |     65 |     24 |                                27 |
| Tamil Nadu                           |      0 |      5 |      2 |      8 |      6 |      5 |     55 |    146 |     57 |                                28 |
| Telangana                            |      0 |      6 |      1 |      9 |      4 |      3 |     36 |     74 |     23 |                                15 |
| Uttar Pradesh                        |      1 |      2 |      1 |      7 |      5 |      4 |     42 |    114 |     34 |                                30 |
| Uttarakhand                          |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      4 |      9 |      2 |                                 2 |
| West Bengal                          |      1 |      1 |      0 |      4 |      3 |      0 |     23 |     71 |     18 |                                18 |
| Total                                |      6 |     64 |     17 |    160 |     73 |     80 |    653 |   1924 |    624 |                               546 |

*****

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (d)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 37 FOR ANSWER ON 02.12.2025 .

## Key  measures  undertaken  by  the  Government  to  promote  entrepreneurship among the youth are as follows:

1.  The  Ministry  of  Skill  Development  and  Entrepreneurship  (MSDE)  through  its autonomous organizations, namely National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) and Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) has taken  various  initiatives  to  promote  entrepreneurship  development  amongst  all sections  of  the  society.  These  initiatives  include,  Swavalambini  programme, Entrepreneurship Awareness Programmes (EAP), Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDP), Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyaan (PMJANMAN), Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDC) in North East Region's Educational Institutions, Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarshh Abhiyan (DAJGUA), Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana Scheme (PM SGMBY Scheme), and Capacity Building Programme for Fair Price Shop Owners.
2.  The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of NITI Aayog fosters innovation and entrepreneurship among India's youth through flagship programs like Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) and the Community Innovator Fellowship (CIF).
3.  The Ministry of Education's Innovation Cell (MIC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) promotes innovation and entrepreneurship across educational institutions.
4.  Youth-centric initiatives have been introduced by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports such as setting up of the autonomous body called Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat),  the  purpose  of  it,  is  to  provide  an  over-arching  institutional  mechanism powered by technology for youth development and youth-led development through Experiential  Learning  Programs  (ELPs),  volunteering  opportunities,  mentorship programme, etc.
5.  Under the Ministry of Defence the Scheme for Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX (ADITI) are fostering  innovation  and  technology  development  in  defence  and  aerospace  by engaging startups.
6.  Under the Department of Science & Technology, the Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) Scheme  has  been  approved  to  incentivize private sector participation  in  research  and  development  (R&D).  Further,  DST  is  implementing the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among the youth. The initiative comprises NIDHI-PRAYAS (prototype grant support), NIDHI-EIR (Entrepreneur-in-Residence fellowships), NIDHI-iTBI (Inclusive TBIs in Tier-II and Tier-III regions).
7.  The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) has initiated the program, Mission for Advancement in Highimpact Areas (MAHA) to address priority-driven, solution-focused research in mission-mode.
8.  The  Council  of  Scientific  and  Industrial  Research  (CSIR)  through  its  constituent laboratories/institutes,  is  implementing  the  'Integrated  Skill  Initiative  Program', intending  to  equip  young  minds  with  the  necessary  technological  skills  through conducting training programs and workshops.
9.  The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has established  biotechnology incubation and  pre-incubation  centres  across  States  &  Union  Territories  (UTs)  under  the BioNEST (Bioincubators Nurturing Entrepreneurship for Scaling Technologies) and E-YUVA  (Encouraging  Youth  for  Undertaking  Innovative  Research  Activities) schemes.
10.  Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is undertaking initiatives such as GENESIS (Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups) Scheme, TIDE 2.0 (Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs) Scheme, and IndiaAI Mission to promote the startup ecosystem.

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