The Centre is developing an action plan to support investment in India’s startup sector. The plan is expected to involve expanding the existing Startup India initiative, which has been in place for seven years. An official has stated that the government aims to address issues such as regulatory permissions, taxation, and the ease of doing business for Indian startups. They are also considering setting time-bound targets for the startup ecosystem. This information was reported by The Economic Times (ET).
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is considering developing indicators such as investments, employment generation, and the number of startups in a sector to track the performance of startups in their plan. As of April 20, 2023, 98,119 entities have been recognized by DPIIT as startups. These startups have self-reported creating 270,000 direct jobs in 2020, 201,000 in 2021, and 159,000 direct jobs in 2022. The advisory committee of experts under the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme has approved Rs 611.36 crore as of April 30.
Officials told ET that the ministries will have to expand their capacity to support the growing number of startups in the country and must achieve their targets under the action plan.
To stimulate investment into startups and facilitate the startup ecosystem in the country, the Centre is looking to work on policy interventions and give short and medium-term recommendations to facilitate the startup ecosystem, the official said.
The Centre is also planning on working on a risk register with risk responses, anticipated risks, and a communication plan.
In August, Business Standard reported that the Indian tech startup ecosystem saw its highest funding peak at $43.5 billion in 2021, and since then, funding has witnessed a downturn with no evident signs of recovery. Analysts said that the funding in this space dropped by 38 per cent in 2022, falling to $27 billion.
