Taking to X (formerly Twitter), minister of state for information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar, commerce minister Piyush Goyal and education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, among others, lauded the government’s efforts to propel the country’s entrepreneurs forward.
National Startup Day is observed annually on January 16. It was announced by PM Narendra Modi in 2022, to celebrate the accomplishments of Indian startups and to foster an environment of innovation. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the ministry of commerce and industry, has marked an entire week as National Startup Week from January 10 to 16.
‘Startup hub’ India
Goyal lauded eight years of the BJP government’s Startup India programme on X. “On the #NationalStartupDay, I extend my best wishes to our talented entrepreneurs who with their hard-work & innovative zeal are paving the way for India’s emergence as a ‘Global Hub for Startups’,” his post read.
In his post, he highlighted that India is home to over 1.17 lakh startups, with over 55,000 led by women directors and having created over 12.4 lakh jobs.
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With a key election in the offing, the BJP government looks to promote its flagship initiatives, including Startup India, Make in India, and the India Semiconductor Mission.Meanwhile, Chandrasekhar opined that the next wave of innovation in India’s startup space will come from deeptech like web3, artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors.
Pradhan congratulated India’s entrepreneurs on the day, remarking that the government initiative “has fuelled dreams, catalysed opportunities and transformed India into a global startup hub”.
Startup India phase 2
ET reported on January 8 that the government will launch the second phase of Startup India programme on January 16, focusing on deep technology startups. Officials had told ET that startups in areas such as semiconductor chips and related research and design areas, quantum and high-performance computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity will be in focus.
The Centre’s attention on deeptech is in line with a steady increase in investor interest in the sector with high-tech innovation-focused companies.
Experts told us that schemes such as the recent National Deep Tech Startup Policy, Green Hydrogen Mission, subsidy for clean mobility, Indian Space Policy, and Indian Semiconductor Mission combined with various production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes, besides the rising interest in generative AI have led to significant interest by investors in deeptech.
About Startup India
Launched on January 16, 2016, the Startup India initiative aims to back young entrepreneurs by helping them comply with rules and regulations, fast-tracking the patent application and granting process, and exempting income and capital gains tax for eligible entrepreneurs and startups respectively.
The DPIIT has recognised 1,14,902 entities as startups as on October 31, 2023. The Centre amended 39 policies to enhance the ease of doing business, raise capital and cut down on compliance norms.