Bharat has reached a significant milestone with over 1.4 lakh registered startups, as announced by Union Commerce and Industry Minister of State Jitin Prasada in the Rajya Sabha.
As per the minister’s written response, Maharashtra leads the list with the highest number of recognised startups at 25,044. Karnataka follows with 15,019 startups, and Delhi ranks third with 14,734 startups. Uttar Pradesh holds the fourth position with 13,299 startups, surpassing Gujarat, which is in fifth place with 11,436 startups.
The government has been actively promoting and supporting the startup ecosystem through various initiatives. The Startup India initiative, launched on January 16, 2016, aims to build a robust ecosystem for innovation, support startups, and encourage investment.
The ‘Startup India Action Plan’ includes 19 action items covering areas such as Simplification and handholding, Funding support and incentives, and Industry-academia partnership and incubation, laying the groundwork for government support and incentives.
Another initiative, ‘Startup India: The Way Ahead,’ focuses on enhancing ease of doing business, integrating technology into reforms, building stakeholder capacities, and advancing a digital Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
The government has also established a Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) with a ₹10,000 crore corpus to address startups’ funding needs. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) oversees the monitoring, while the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) operates the fund.
This corpus is to be disbursed over the 14th and 15th Finance Commission cycles, based on scheme progress and fund availability.
The government’s efforts have not only provided early, seed, and growth stage capital for startups but also played a key role in facilitating domestic capital raising, reducing reliance on foreign investments, and fostering the development of new homegrown venture capital funds.
