Startup India sees growth; Maha, Karnataka lead the race

The startup ecosystem in the country has seen an uptick in growth in the past few years, with a push from the Startup India initiative launched in August 2015. The Economic Survey said that startups drive economic growth, create employment and foster a culture of innovation.

As on January 8, 2020, 27,084 startups were recognized across 551 districts, 55 per cent from Tier I cities, 45 per cent from Tier II and Tier III cities. Moreover, 43 per cent of recognised startups have at least one woman director.

The survey talks about a multitude of steps that have been taken for easing regulations in the sector. This includes exemption from income tax on investments raised by startups; implementation of 32 regulatory reforms to improve Ease of Doing Business for startups; self-certification regime for select labour laws and three environmental laws. It also highlights the Startup India Hub as a ‘One Stop Shop’ for the startup ecosystem in which 3,67,773 users have availed free Startup India learning programme.

In terms of performance by states, Maharashtra (18.9%), Karnataka (14.6%) and Delhi emerged as the top performers in terms of the distribution of recognized startups in India. In industry terms, IT Services accounted for 13.9 per cent followed by Healthcare and Life Sciences (8.3%) and Education (7%).