States’ Startup Ranking 2022: Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala Among The Best Performers

Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu emerged as the best performers among large states in the ‘States’ Startup Ranking 2022’ released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

This was the fourth edition of the awards and saw participation from 33 states and union territories. Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal announced the results today.

The states and union territories were ranked based on their performance on seven reform areas and 25 action points. The participating states were divided into two categories – those with a population of above 1 Cr and those with less than it.

Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Telangana were named the top performers in category A states (states with population more than 1 crore), while Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand were named leaders. 

Bihar and Haryana were named as aspiring leaders, while Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and Jammu and Kashmir found a place in the list of emerging ecosystems.

In category B, which included states with less than 1 Cr population, Himachal Pradesh was the best performer. Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya were the top performers in this category. 

Goa, Manipur, and Tripura found a place in the list of leaders in this category, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Nagaland were crowned aspiring leaders.

Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Ladakh, Mizoram, Puducherry, and Sikkim were the emerging ecosystems in category B. 

In the last edition of the awards, Gujarat and Karnataka were the best performers. Kerala found a place in the list of top performers, while Tamil Nadu was in the list of startup leaders.

Announcing the results, Goyal said that the startup sector that was once a novelty has now become an integral part of the national mainstream.

He also urged startups to focus on new areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and identified tourism as a sector with untapped potential. 

He also encouraged startups to register for patent, copyright, and trademark protections as the fees have been reduced for startups.

It must be noted that the government has launched a number of new schemes and initiatives, including Startup India, Startup India Seed Fund Scheme, Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups, over the last few years to promote startups.

As a result, the number of startups in the country have skyrocketed. Last month, Minister of State (MoS) for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said that 1,14,902 entities were recognised as startups under the Startup India initiative. 

Earlier today, it was also reported that the government has granted income tax exemptions to as many as 2,975 DPIIT-recognised startups so far. 

According to Inc42’s Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2023, Indian startups raised a total funding of over $146 Bn between 2014-23. The total number of tech startups in India are expected to grow 2.6 times from 68K in 2023 to 1.8 Lakh in 2030.