15,472 startups have been recognised under the Startup India programme

13,176 recognised startups have reportedly created 1,48,897 jobs

45% startups have at least one or more women directors

Startup India campaign is based on an action plan aimed at promoting bank financing for start-up
ventures to boost entrepreneurship and encourage start-ups with jobs creation. The campaign was
first announced by our Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi on 15thAugust, 2015.Aimed to make India,
one of the largest and vigorous startup ecosystems in the world, PM Modi’s flagship initiative Startup
India programme took a slew of policy initiatives to build a strong, conducive, growth-oriented
environment for Indian startups and thereby help generate lakhs of job opportunities in the country.

It is focused on to restrict role of States in policy domain and to get rid of "License Raj" and hindrances
like land permissions, foreign investment proposal and environmental clearances. It was organized by
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. The government has already launched PMMY, the
MUDRA Bank, a new institution set up for development and refinancing activities relating to micro units
with a refinance fund of Rs. 200 billion. The Startup India Action Plan intended to build a strong support
ecosystem that is conducive for the growth of startups and supports the spirit of entrepreneurship in
the country. It emphasised on self-compliance, which made the team working at the Startup India Hub a
key stakeholder in the ecosystem to work in a hub-and-spoke model and collaborate with various
enablers.

With the introduction of the Fund of Funds worth INR 10,000 Cr, the Indian government took the first
step in making startups a viable means of livelihood and not just ‘jugaad’ (a Hindi word meaning an
improvised or impromptu solution to something). Also, it made the youth of the country look at
entrepreneurship as a viable career option.

At the same time, government think tank NITI Aayog launched the Atal Innovation Mission to foster
innovation among budding entrepreneurs at the grassroots level. As part of this, 5,441 Atal Tinkering
Labs have been set up across the country. In the Union Budget for 2018, the government also
allocated $480 Mn (INR 3414.19 Cr) for new-age technologies to further support innovation in the Indian
startup ecosystem.

Under the Startup India programmed, startups were defined and redefined. For instance, the startups’
age was also increased from 5 to 7 years (10 in the case of biotech). The government has taken various
initiatives to boost the growing startup culture in the country such as fast-tracking of startup patent
applications, income tax exemption, and self-certification. It also launched the Startup India Hub to
bridge the gap between various stakeholders of the startup ecosystem.

And if that’s not enough, the buzz generated by the programme helped open up a lot of opportunities
for startups. Take funding, for instance — according to Inc42 DataLabs, between 2016 and 2018, over
$30.3 Bn was invested in Indian startups across 2,550 deals. Also, VC investments saw a moderate rise
despite an overall fall in funding in 2018, which indicates a positive sentiment among the investors in
the near term.
A startup is an entity, private, partnership or limited liability partnership (LLP) firm that is headquartered
in India, which was opened less than five years ago and have an annual turnover less than Rs. 25 Crores.
To be eligible for considering as startup, the entity should not be formed by splitting up or
reconstruction and its turnover should not have crossed Rs. 25 Crores during its existence.

A Chart depicting the eligibility criteria for Startup Companies:

 Single Window Clearance even with the help of a mobile application.

 10,000 Crores fund of funds
 80% reduction in patent registration fee
 Modified and more friendly Bankruptcy Code to ensure 90-day exit window.
 Freedom from mystifying inspections for 3 years.
 Freedom from Capital Gain Tax for 3 years.
 Freedom from tax in profits for 3 years.
 Eliminating red tape.
 Self-certification compliance.
  Innovation hub under Atal Innovation Mission.
 Starting with 5 Lakh schools to target 10 Lakh children for innovation programme.
 New schemes to provide IPR protection to start-ups and new firms.
 Encourage entrepreneurship.
 Stand India across the world as a start-up hub.

Venture capital funds from abroad and angel investors are proving to be a big boon for Indian startup
story. Indian startups such as Flipkart, Olacabs, Snapdeal, Hike, Shopclues, Freecharge, Inmobi etc.
receive various rounds of follow-on financing as well either from their existing investors or from any new
investor. These various rounds of funding also help these firms to hire more talent into the company.
This helps the company to grow strategically and also add some more experienced people in the firm.

SoftBank, which is headquarterd in Japan, has invested US$ 2.00 Billion into Indian startups. The
Japanese firm had pledged the total investments at US$ 10.00 Billion. Google declared to launch a
startup. Oracle on 12th February, 2016 announced to set up nine incubation centers.

Under the Start-Up India Action Plan", the Honorable Prime Minister has also announced Rs. 10,000
Crores fund for new enterprises, equal opportunity in government procurement, a Rs. 500 Crores credit
guarantee scheme and easier exit norms.

Apart from funding, mergers and acquisitions are also helping these startup companies to grow by
acquiring new capabilities directly and expanding into the market share of the acquired company. The
best example of this could be buying of Myntra, an app based shopping portal by another technology
giant Flipkart to gain the market share. Snapdeal recently acquired Freecharge to grow into the area of
mobile payment gateways, since mobile payments are a next hot spot sensed by various startups
presenting immense opportunities for further penetration. Not only in India but also internationally tech
giants have used acquisition of companies as a way to maintain their position of market leader and also
as a way to enhance diversification. An example of this could be acquisition of messaging app Whatsapp
by another giant Facebook.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Department of Science and Technology have
agreed to partner in an initiative to set up over 75 startup support hubs in the National Institutes of
Technology, the Indian Institutes of Information Technology, the Indian Institutes of Science Education
and Research and National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research. Reserve Bank of India
takes steps to help improve the ease of doing business in the country and contribute to an ecosystem
that is conducive for the growth of start-up businesses.

Indian government is also taking several steps to build an environment which is suitable for startups,
since small businesses can play a very important role to develop and boost Indian economy in the
future. In the Union Budget of 2015, government has established a process or a mechanism known as
Self Employment and Talent Utilization to support all the aspects of startups right from their seed
financing stage to their growth stage. It is also anticipated that government may roll out a Rs. 2,000
Crores fund to provide seed capital to startups related to IT and biotechnology.

Under the scheme, a group of start-ups will acknowledge an MOU with the prestigious institutions and
will also establish the start-up centers in the campus. NIT-Silchar is one of the institutions of the country
to have joined the program. IIT Madras is also linked with this campaign. The institution has been
successfully managing seven research parks that has incubated many start-ups The quality of education
in the institutions of the nation is always questioned and found not matching with the organizations'
standards for the required skillset and they have to expend on training the fresher’s. The country has
also launched the Skill India campaign for addressing the issue.Hence, taking into consideration all the
above developments, it can be concluded that indigenous startups will not only make the lives of the
people easier through their affordable and convenient services but will also act as a major booster for
the development and the progress of the Indian economy.