Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada announced on Friday that there are already over 1.4 lakh startups in India as a result of the government’s ongoing efforts to foster innovation and promote investments in the ecosystem.
The Minister responded to a query in the Rajya Sabha by stating that, as of June 30, 1,40,803 organizations had been recognized as startups by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as part of the “Startup India” initiative.
Since the “Startup India” initiative was introduced in 2016, the government has implemented over 55 regulatory reforms to facilitate business operations, streamline capital raising, and lessen the cost of compliance on the startup ecosystem.
The angel tax on startups was eliminated by the Center in the Union Budget 2024–2025, opening the door for more foreign investment to enter the ecosystem and extending the funding winter.
The minister was informed that Rs 945 crore has been sanctioned under the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) for a four-year term beginning in 2021–2022.
To help entrepreneurs with their capital needs, the government also launched the Fund of Funds for entrepreneurs (FFS) plan, which has a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore.
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is the FFS’s operating organization, while DPIIT serves as its oversight body.
Additionally, the Center launched the startup credit guarantee program, which offers credit guarantees for loans made by scheduled commercial banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), venture debt funds (VDFs) operating under SEBI-registered alternative investment funds, and scheduled commercial banks to startups recognized by DPIIT.
Reportedly, Indian venture capital and private equity investments totaled $39 billion in 2023 as opposed to $62 billion in 2022.
