India Home To 73K Startups, Generated Over 7.5 Lakh Jobs In The Country: Govt

India is home to 73,205 officially recognised startups that have created more than 7.5 Lakh jobs in the country, according to the latest figures released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on Friday (June 8).

More than 45% of these startups have at least one woman director. The data also noted that each startup, on an average, created 11 jobs. It must be noted that the employment data reported by the startups was reflected as it is and is not verified by the government. 

Recognition by the DPIIT comes with a host of benefits including tax rebate for three years, rebate on application forms up to 80% and easy facilitation of investments into startups via government’s fund of funds.

The registered startups are spread across 645 districts, primarily in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Maharashtra leads the pack with the maximum number of government-recognised startups (13,541), followed by Karnataka (8,902) and Delhi (8,670).

The data seen by Business Standard revealed that the majority of the DPIIT-recognised startups are involved in IT services (9,041), followed by healthcare (6,839) and education (4,848).

DPIIT joint secretary Shruti Singh was quoted as saying that the government has already committed more than INR 7,300 Cr for 86 alternate investment funds (AIFs) as part of the larger Fund of Funds scheme. 

It is pertinent to note that the Centre had established an INR 10,000 crore fund of funds under the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to fund startups. 

On similar lines, INR 365.75 Cr has been committed to 99 incubators and INR 76 Cr has been approved for 436 startups under the Startup India Seed Fund. 

Singh also said that the government is building a platform that would connect homegrown startups with domestic investors, adding that it would be ready in the next two months. She also added that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is working on corporate governance norms for startups.

Meanwhile, Moneycontrol reported that close to 13,000 startups are already registered on the Centre’s unified procurement portal, Government e-Marketplace (GeM). These startups have so far fulfilled 1.1 Lakh orders worth INR 5,600 crore via the platform.

Earlier this week, the government released its much awaited States’ Startup Rankings 2021. The report noted that the number of investors in the country increased by 9X since 2015, while there was a 7X increase in the total funding of startups in the past seven years. 

India currently has more than 700 active incubators and 60 Atal Incubation Centres across the country to nurture potential startups.

Karnataka and Gujarat led the rankings, while Ladakh and Bihar emerged leaders in the emerging startup ecosystems rankings. 

Earlier on June 8, Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh also directed government officials and agencies to reach out to potential startups and offer them support.