Startups & innovation ecosystem are engines of growth for any country

Startups and the entire innovation ecosystem are the engines of growth for any country, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Shri Som Parkash said in reply to a parliamentary question today.. Recognizing this aspect, the Government launched Startup India initiative on 16th January 2016 with an aim to build a stronger ecosystem for nurturing India’s startup culture that would further drive our economic growth, support entrepreneurship, and enable large-scale employment opportunities.

Sustained Government efforts in this direction have resulted in increasing the number of recognised startups from 442 in 2016 to 92,683 in 2023 (as on 28^th February 2023).

Startups, have actively contributed in Government’s flagship programs such as Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission, National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY scheme) to improve urban infrastructure and service provision.

Furthermore, DPIIT has recognised startups which are spread across 56 diversified sectors. 

• Regulatory Reforms: Over 50 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.
• 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 e-Marketplace (GeM) Startup Runway has been developed which is a dedicated corner for startups to sell products and services directly to the Government.

• Support for Intellectual Property Protection: Startups are eligible for fast-tracked 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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 over 15 countries (Brazil, Sweden, Russia, Portugal, UK, Finland, Netherlands, Singapore, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Croatia, Qatar and UAE) that provides a soft-landing platform for startups from the partner nations and aid in promoting cross collaboration.