'Start-up India', 'Stand-up India' is seeking to boost confidence and capability of millions of young entrepreneurs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious action plan will be unveiled on Saturday, After ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’, this is one of the seminal initiatives undertaken by the Government of India to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of the nation. This program is designed to promote and encourage Indian young minds to innovate and ignite their ideas with the reassurance of support from the startup ecosystem.
"Can India be a 'Startup Capital'? Can the youth in the states have the opportunities in the form of start-ups, with innovations, whether be it manufacturing, service sector or agriculture? In everything, there should be freshness, new ways, new thinking. The world cannot move ahead without innovation," Modi said in his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio program on All India Radio.
Here's a look at what people expect from Startup India action plan:
StartUp India is here to boost entrepreneurship and job creation. Entrepreneurs are indeed encouraged to create more jobs in the country. Particularly important in a country where we have millions of young job seekers against fewer opportunities.
Appreciating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Start-Up India initiative, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy said to Money Control, “It will encourage entrepreneur ship and generate jobs. At the end of the day, it is about the power of entrepreneur ship, how it can create lots of jobs and how there is a need to encourage our youngsters to create even more jobs".
In past few years, the world of food-tech has seen a big revolution. In 2015, ‘eating in a restaurant’ definition has changed thanks to well-funded online food-ordering companies who began splurging for customer acquisition. Start-ups in 2012 started offering discount coupons, delivery options, food kits and even incentives with online-ordering services.
The food-tech ecosystem has grown much faster than many players, and hopefully with the Start Up India initiative, start-ups in the field of Food-tech will be mature further and only the serious players will bet in this market.
Investment momentum in startups has witnessed a rapid rise in the last five years and in 2015, over 600 companies got funded with more than $2 billion being deployed by PE and VC funds. Grant Thornton India Director Kinnari Gandhi said to Economic Times, “In 2016, there will be increased rationality in this ecosystem, funding may get tougher and focus will increase to fundamentals, justification around valuations and scalability.
The ET report has the following wishlist from entrepreneurs:
- Single window clearance for startups
- Policies that connect them digitally rather than paper route
- Easy visa access to attract international talent
- Alignment of capital gains tax for alternative investment funds, venture capital firms and angel investors. In-line with public market investors
- Policies that support secondary share markets for investors looking to exit their investments
- Undated tax laws for innovative business models
- Definition of startups based on revenue and transaction
The government has already declared a financial pool of Rs. 10000 crore for Startups in India in 2015 budget. Many State governments are ready to invest in startups for which a corpus from the state budget has been kept aside. A pool of talented leaders are expected to be a part of this tsunami. Clarity is awaited on these.
According to a recent report by industry lobby group Nasscom, India has emerged as the youngest startup nation in the world with about three-fourths of founders less than 35 years old. The country has almost 4,200 startups, making it the third-largest startup base worldwide. We’re hoping s the New Year gift to young people who want to set up new businesses or innovative projects.
Softbank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son and Uber founder Travis Kalanick are among 40 Silicon Valley heavyweights expected to attend the ‘Start Up India’ launch on January 16 where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil the government’s action plan for promoting startups.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would inaugurate a day-long workshop on startups to which CEOs and founders of 2,000 Indian startups have been invited.
Google will be offering $15,000 of equity funding for early stage startups at a session called ‘Launchpad Accelerator’ where startups can make live presentations about their business ideas. Softbank President and Chief Operating Officer Nikesh Arora would also guide the youth in raising funds.
The event, that is to conclude with the Prime Minister’s address, would be telecast live at all IIMs, IITs, NITs, central universities and among youth groups in over 350 districts.
Sources used:
Economic Times / Firstpost / India Times / Money Control
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