Jharkhand Launches Startup Policy

Following suit with the Central government’s Startup India campaign, the Jharkhand government has introduced “Start-Up Jharkhand” policy, reported TOI.

Chief Minister Raghubar Das earmarked $7.5 Mn (INR 50 Cr) to encourage entrepreneurs in different sectors. He also said that very soon the state would come up with Start-UP Jharkhand policy.

In order to facilitate the same, Innovation and Incubation Centres at a cost of $1.5 Mn (INR 10 Cr) were being set up. He also said that the state would set up an innovation lab with the help of IIM Ahmedabad.

Through this initiative, the entrepreneurs will be encouraged in the sectors like Information Technology, Health, Tourism, Agriculture, Biotechnology, and alternative energy.

State Startup Policies- A Big Boost To Entrepreneurship

Many states have come forward to foster entrepreneurship and to promote the startup ecosystems. A few of them include-

West Bengal

In a bid to boost the startup ecosystem in the state, West Bengal Government launched the State Startup Policy in January 2016. It aims to support and nurture startup ecosystem in the state. The policy is in effect from January 1, 2016 till December 31, 2021.

To connect all the ecosystem stakeholders, network of support, funding and service providers, a digital platform, startupbengal.in, was launched.

Rajasthan

Rajasthan Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje, unveiled the ‘Rajasthan Startup Policy – 2015’ in October 2015.

Under this startup policy, the Rajasthan government will allocate $8.4 Mn (INR 55 Cr) to bring investments over $76 Mn (INR 500 Cr) to set up 500 startups in the next 5 years.

Key targets of the policy were -50 Incubators / Incubator-like Organisations to be established, 500 innovative startups to be supported and incubated, 100,000 sq ft of Incubation Space to be developed / facilitated, Angel and Venture Capital of INR 500 Cr to be mobilised for startups, Development of an Innovation and Problem Solving Culture across the State.

Gujarat

Gujarat Government had announced exclusive policies for startup in January 2015.

The policy included three pillars to its structure-

Innovator: The one who gets the incentives for his/her ideas and venture.
Institutions: Which includes all the incubators, accelerators, Universities, R&D institutions etc. who mentors the start-ups in the initial phase.
Government Committee: It approves and finances the projects.

Odisha

To make Odisha one of the top three investment destinations of the country, chief minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled a 10 year ‘industrial development policy – 2025’ at ‘Make in India’ in February 2016. The policy will help the ease of doing business by providing infrastructure, land and some funding.

The new policy was expected to help the state attract an investment of INR 2.25 lakh Cr over the next 10 years and create 10 lakh jobs.

Uttar Pradesh

Earlier this week, the Uttar Pradesh government with an objective to establish the state as a preferential state for IT investment has come up with an Information Technology and Start-up Policy 2016, reported Business Standard

The policy aims to promote development of IT cities and parks to create world-class technology infrastructure in the state.

The policy, will be executed by the Uttar Pradesh Electronics Corporation Limited, and would remain effective for five years from the date of issuance of its notification.

Kerala

The Government of Kerala aims to provide an ecosystem where the youth of the state can reach their maximum potential and so Kerala Technology Startup Policy 2014 was launched.

The Policy aimed to achieve the following by year 2020;

Attract INR 5,000 Cr in investments into the Incubation and Startup Ecosystem in Kerala
Provide INR 2500 Cr for youth entrepreneurship activities for the next five years (1% of the annual State Budget)
Create more numbers of Indian owned Global Technology companies based out of Kerala
Establish at least 10 Technology Business Incubators / Accelerators in each of the different sectors in the State
Encourage/Facilitate/Incubate at least 10,000 technology product startups
Develop 1 million sq. ft of Incubation Space
Facilitate Venture Capital funding of a minimum of INR 2000 Cr
Set the platform for creating at least one home grown billion dollar technology company from the startups

Karnataka

Karnataka Startup Policy 2015-2020 was set up to create a world-class startup ecosystem in the state through strategic investment and policy interventions leveraging the robust innovation climate in Bangalore.

Goals:

Stimulate the growth of 20000 technology based startups including 6000 product startups by 2020 in Karnataka
Achieve creation of 6 lakh direct and 12 lakh indirect new employments in the sector
Mobilise INR 2000 Cr funding for investment in startups through Government intervention alone, by leveraging the Fund of Funds proposed to be put in place by the State Government
Facilitate generation of at least 25 Innovative Technology solutions with a social impact in the sectors like Healthcare, Food Security, Clean environment and Education for all etc.

Others

In January 2015, Tamil Nadu government was planning to launch incubation facilities for startups to promote new ventures and assist upcoming entrepreneurs by creating an appropriate ecosystem. The startups will grow under the guidance of NASSCOM, the industry body for software companies. The first operational site would be built at Tidel Park, Chennai.

Later, in March 2016 IT industry body National Association of Software & Services (NASSCOM) partnered with Tamil Nadu Government to open its first warehouse in Chennai.

Prior to this, the NASSCOM 10,000 Startup Program in partnership with the Government of Telangana, inaugurated the T-Hub NASSCOM Startup Warehouse in Hyderabad.

Also, in partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, NASSCOM inaugurated NASSCOM Startup Warehouse in Vizag in March 2016.