India Home To 1.14 Lakh Startups As Of October: Govt

India is home to more than 1.14 Lakh startups recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), as per Minister of State (MoS) for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash.

Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Parkash on Wednesday (December 6) said that 1,14,902 entities were recognised as startups under the flagship Startup India initiative, as of October 2023. 

The MoS also informed the Parliament that 716 eligible startups were offered funding, via incubators, under the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) between 2021 and 2022. Additionally, INR 520.03 Cr was furnished to the incubators under the seed fund scheme. 

He also noted that capital to the tune of INR 13,832.91 was invested in as many as 718 startups through government-selected alternative investment funds (AIFs). This was done under the fund of funds for startups (FFS) scheme spanning a five-year period between 2018 and 2022.

In response to a separate question, MoS Parkash added that 54,569  DPIIT-recognised startups, out of the total 1.14 Lakh, had at least one woman director.

Launched in January 2016, the Startup India initiative aims to build a strong homegrown startup ecosystem while nurturing innovation and encouraging investments.

Under the umbrella of Startup India, the government has envisaged an action plan with regards to startups comprising schemes and incentives aimed at creating a vibrant ecosystem in the country. 

The plan ecompasses 19 areas spanning domains such as simplification and hand holding, funding support and incentives and industry-academia partnership and incubation, it added.

It is pertinent to note that DPIIT-recognised startups currently get access to a variety of incentives and sops under schemes including Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS). 

The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme has been approved for four years, beginning with FY22, with a corpus of INR 945 Cr. It aims to provide financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialisation.

On the other hand, FFS scheme, with a corpus of INR 10,000 Cr, enables homegrown players to access domestic capital via AIFs. Alongside, CGSS provides credit guarantees for loans extended to DPIIT-recognised startups.

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