 "Centre working on action plan to increase investments in startup sector")
The Centre has started work on an action plan to enable investment in the country's startup sector that is likely to include scaling up the seven-year-old Startup India initiative, according to a report by The Economic Times (ET).
An official was quoted as saying that the government plans to identify challenges in regulatory permissions, taxation, and ease of doing business for Indian startups. Time-bound targets for the startup ecosystem are being mulled over.
To facilitate the plan, 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 trace the performance of startups.
As of April 20, 2023, DPIIT has recognised 98,119 entities 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 experts advisory committee 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.