Govt Says DPIIT Has No Data On Startups Contribution To GDP

SUMMARY

Commerce minister says DPIIT does not have data on startups affected due to Covid-19 pandemic

As of September 6, 2020, DPIIT had recognised a total of 36,106 startups

As per available data, the number of jobs provided by DPIIT- recognised startups increased from 49,648 in 2017 to 95,338 in 2018 and 1,54,558 in 2019

In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, commerce minister Piyush Goyal said that there was no data available on the contribution made by startups. The minister also added that DPIIT does not have the data on startups affected by the pandemic.

On MSMEs data, the government reiterated that no data has been maintained on how many small and medium enterprises have been shut down during the pandemic. However, the minister said as of September 6, 2020, DPIIT had recognised a total of 36,106 startups.

The minister also shared data around the number of jobs created by startups in response to the question of job generation by startups. As per the data, the number of jobs provided by DPIIT-recognised startups increased from 49,648 in 2017 to 95,338 in 2018 and 1,54,558 in 2019.

As of September 6, 2020, 4,22,986 jobs were reported by 34,267 startups with Maharashtra (80,714 jobs), Karnataka (71,533 jobs), Delhi (49,497 jobs), UP (33,803 jobs) and Haryana (29,770 jobs) were on top in job creation among other states.

Under the Startup India programme launched in 2016, the government had formed a Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) with a corpus of INR 10,000 Cr to be provided till 2025. Out of this corpus, which is currently managed by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the government has released INR 1322.05 Cr until September 9, 2020. However, in February 2020, the government had committed INR 3123.20 Cr to 47 SEBI registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs).

Growth Of Indian Startups

India has seen a launch of more than 55,000 startups to date with more than 3,200 startups raising $63 Bn in funding in the last five and a half years alone.

From 29K startups in 2014, the number has grown exponentially from 2015-2018 and will touch 55K startups by the end of 2020.

In terms of funding, fundraising reported by SEBI-registered (Category 1) venture capital funds grew from INR 326 Cr in 2014 to over INR 2,703 Cr in 2019. Also, the share of actual capital raised to commitments in 2014 was 35% compared to 61% in 2019, indicating the growing investor interest towards investment opportunities in India.

From a single unicorn in 2012, 10 in 2016, India has seen 34 startups attaining unicorn status with a current combined valuation of $115 Bn.