Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: Startup India Initiative)

Why in News?

Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal stated that the Startup India portal had more than 65,000 startups registered.Of these,40 attained the ‘unicorn’ status in the last twelve months,bringing the total as of date to 90.He noted that India now ranked third among global startup eco-systems.
The findings of “The good,the bad and the ugly of Startup India” a review of India’s Enrepreneurship policy has been discussed.

Launched on 16th January, 2016, the Startup India Initiative has rolled out several programs with the objective of supporting entrepreneurs, building a robust startup ecosystem and transforming India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers. These programs are managed by a dedicated Startup India Team, which reports to the Department for Industrial Policy and Promotion (DPIIT).

Entrepreneurship continues to be “highly concentrated” in three megacities, namely, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi NCR. Such concentration can lead to increased economic inequality and hinder emergence of entrepreneurs from other regional clusters.
The Startup India Action Plan document has no mention of the words ‘caste’, ‘tribe’, ‘marginalised’, ‘indigenous’ or ‘social group’. This contradicts the initiative’s very notion of making entrepreneurship in India inclusive.
The under-representation could be due to multiple factors such as caste-based economic exclusion,the urban and rural divide, lack of access to quality education and limited social networks.
Of the 65,000 startups registered only 40 attained the ‘unicorn’ status in the last twelve months, bringing the total as of date to 90.
Quoting from Startup India’s Report (2018), the researchers mention, only four States had dedicated startup policies prior to its launch. After its launch and as of December 2019,23 States and two Union Territories had formulated a dedicated startup policy.
Additionally,the policy’s reliance on technology does not take into consideration India’s digital divide, especially with respect to urban and rural areas.
One is government apathy, corruption and a complex approvals process.
The other is the power of entrenched corporates, to oppose or kill start-ups which challenge them.

With reference to government data from 2013, the paper concluded that SC and ST share in ownership of agricultural establishments including farming, livestock, fishery and forestry were higher in comparison to non-agricultural establishments. They were based majorly in rural areas in comparison to urban areas.
Most of them operated without any hired workers, indicating that a significant number of these enterprises were necessity-based under takings not creating any significant job opportunities.
The evidence thus suggests the need for targeted measures to promote technology-and innovation-driven entrepreneurship among SC and ST communities.

In February, the Minister of State for Commerce & Industry Som Prakash had informed that of 62,000 startups registered with the DPIIT, 46% of them had at least one woman director.
RBI’s pilot survey had earlier stated that 5.9% of participating startups in its survey had a female founder in comparison to 55.5% of the opposite gender.The remaining 38.6% had both male and female co-founders.
10% of the fund in the Fund of Funds operated by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has been reserved for women-led startups.
Further, all the alternate investment funds where the SIDBI takes equity have been mandated to contribute 20% in business which are women led, women influenced and women employment or women consumption centric.
Capacity building programmes and the dedicated webpage for women on the portal.
However,women are still under-represented in the startup ecosystem.

Start-up India is consistent with the PM’s call for innovation when he launched Digital India. The Start-up India Action plan is a good start to this,but will need continued support and evolution to make this a true,deep revolution for the youth of India.