Startup India

An Action Plan for Startup India to build a strong eco-system to nurture innovation and Startups in the country was launched on 16th January 2016. Salient features of the scheme are as follow:

i.    Simplification and Handholding

• Simple Compliance Regime for startups based on Self-certification
• Launch of Mobile app and Portal for compliance and information exchange
• Startup India Hub to handhold startups during various phases of their development
• Legal support and fast-tracking patent examination at reduced costs
• Relaxed norms of public procurement for startups
• Faster exit for startups

a.    Funding support and Incentives

• Providing funding support through a Fund of Funds with a corpus of ₹ 10,000 crore
• Credit guarantee fund for startups
• Tax exemption on capital gains invested in Fund of Funds
• Tax exemption to startups for 3 years

b.    Industry-Academia Partnership and Incubation

• Organizing Startup Fests to showcase innovations and providing collaboration platforms
• Launch of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) with Self –Employment and Talent Utilization (SETU) Program of NITI Aayog
• Harnessing private sector expertise for setting up incubators
• Setting up of 7 new research parks modeled on the Research Park at IIT Madras
• Launching of innovation focused programs for students.
• Annual Incubator Grand Challenge to promote good practices among incubators.

ii.    Credit Guarantee Fund

The initiative provides for creating a credit guarantee fund for startups through National Guarantee Trust Company (NCGTC)/SIDBI with a Corpus of ₹ 500 crore per year for the next four years.

With this  Action Plan the Government hopes to accelerate spreading of the startup movement:

From digital/technology sector to a wide array of sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, social sector, healthcare, education, etc; and

From existing tier 1 cities to tier 2 and tier 3 cities including semi-urban and rural areas.

The Action Plan envisages setting up of 7 New Research Parks modeled on the Research Park at IIT Madras at IITs in Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Bangalore, Gandhinagar and Delhi and setting-up/scaling-up of 18 Technology Business Incubators (TBI) at NITs/IITs/IIMs etc. as per the funding model of DST.

This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in Lok Sabha.