There has been a greater drive by the government to both build and nurture a start-up ecosystem in the economy with the latest increase in India’s ease of business rating. Due to increased funding and support policies, numerous startup areas such as fintech, edtech, pharma, e-commerce, supply chain, and even consumer marketing are gaining traction. This programme not only inspires brilliant minds but, also promotes competition and equitable representation in the business world.
Many initiatives have been initiated by the government of India to improve India’s entrepreneurship network.
- START-UP INDIA
Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16 January 2016, it comes under the Industrial Policy and Promotion Department. The concept was to help entrepreneurs through easy enforcement and relaxed requirements, along with the introduction of a credit guarantee fund for startups.
The goal of the venture is to use tax exemptions, incubation centres, and partnerships between academic industries to improve morale and provide guidance to new business minds.
- ASPIRE
By launching plans to help the vulnerable, India always aims at improving the rural area. One such programme, which falls under the MSME, is ASPIRE, which focuses on enthusiasm for innovation and growth, primarily in the agricultural industry. At the district level, the funds allocated for this plan are being used to enable renewed jobs and value generation in rural areas.
- MUDRA BANK
A credit facility launched to support rural start-ups is the Micro Units Growth Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank. Thanks to help from the MUDRA scheme, several small-scale food and beverage start-ups have succeeded. The bank comes under the head of the Mudra Yojana Pradhan Mantri, where it provides Rs 10 lakh loans to small ventures without any collateral protection.
- MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The commitment of India to fostering entrepreneurship is demonstrated by this ministry and its wise allocation of resources. A ministry designed to take care of and appeal to the start-up environment is constantly organizing skill development workshops, tutorials, festivals, and seminars while taking care of gap funding as well. This helps many people find their interests and start suitable projects through revolutionary ideas.
- ATAL INNOVATION MISSION
The idea of this mission, set up by NitiAayog, is to establish cooperation between state, central, and local innovation structures and execute the spirit of entrepreneurship right from schools to companies. Some of the projects under this project are Atal Tinkering Laboratories, Atal Incubators, and Atal New India Challenges, to raise and also mentor startups in India.
- CREDIT GUARANTEE SCHEME FOR STARTUPS
Commonly known as CGSS, this framework also focuses on providing micro and small businesses with financial stability. It offers zero collateral for loans, with additional support in the form of discounted interest rates. The device was known to target production units, thus maintaining a corpus of Rs 100 lakhs as well.
With these government schemes for startups, India is poised to see a sizeable increase in the number of startup ventures.
