In an announcement made by the Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the startups would now need only a certificate of recognition from the government to avail IPR-related benefits.
With this initiative, the government is providing yet another platform for the startups to allow them to do their business easily. The startups would now require only a certificate of recognition from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in order to procure the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) benefits.
Earlier, startups went through an elaborate process of approaching an inter-ministerial board to procure the IPR benefits.
Nirmala Sitharaman said, “Startups are the next big economic force in India. Close to 4,400 technology startups exist in India and the number is expected to reach over 12,000 by 2020.”
The announcement was made at the Startup India states’ conference held, which was held on Saturday in Delhi.
The government is trying its best to make Startup India initiative a scalable reality. It has undertaken various initiatives to help startups grow in the country. The government launched the Startup India Hub on April 1, 2016 to resolve queries and to provide hand-holding support to startups. It even announced three-year tax holiday and other benefits to these budding entrepreneurs. Besides, the startups also have a benefit to get funded from SEBI registered alternative investment funds (AIFs), which in turn will get funded by INR 10, 000 Cr corpus of ‘Fund of Funds’ managed by SIDBI.
Sitharaman added, “Also, of many questions being raised about ‘minimum government and maximum governance’, I want to ensure that the government is only facilitating young entrepreneurs. All of us are duty-bound to be accountable and transparent. Accountability and transparency warrants that if tax breaks have to be given, in cases when the government defers, postpones or foregoes, we have to have some kind of accountability system. Therefore, there has to be an inter-ministerial board.”
She also said that the National Expert Advisory Committee formed by the Human Resource Development Ministry has recommended seven proposals for research parks, 16 for TBIs (Technology Business Incubators) and 13 proposals for Startup Centres, which will be implemented in the current financial year itself.
Earlier in July, The Commerce Ministry had launched online marketplace For goods procurement. There were also reports that only 16 applicants have been incorporated under the ‘Startup India Action Programme after April 1, 2016, which will make them eligible for tax benefits as per the Finance Act 2016.
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