[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he budding entrepreneurs of India are multiplying in quite a pace with over 400 calls attended by the recently launched Startup Hub, every day. Consequently, to lend a helping hand to the business ideas, the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) are in plans to set up incubation centers across the country.
The government will also engage the private sector and state governments in building incubation capacities for young entrepreneurs. Reportedly, a senior government official has said, “This is the basic requirement for any startup to take off. Right now, all such centers are concentrated in IITs or cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi-NCR, which is a limitation.”
Following up the Startup India campaign, the Narendra Modi government also plans to create sector-specific incubators under the Atal Innovation Mission along with 500 tinkering labs to promote entrepreneurship, provide pre-incubation training and a seed fund for high growth startups. The NITI Aayog is formulating guidelines for implementing the Atal Innovation Mission.
Currently, the DIPP is recognizing state-wise capacities of incubation to take up the startup movement in tier-II and III cities, and focus especially on the northeastern states of India. The government will also identify 10 incubators, evaluated on pre-defined key performance indicators and give them Rs 10 crore each as financial aid to ramp up their infrastructure.
“We are going beyond what has already been announced. Government may not have the required expertise to provide the incubation facilities. We are discussing ways to involve the private sector in this exercise,” the official added.
The idea is to use incubation centers as commercial proposition or part of the corporate social responsibility to engage the private companies.
The recently launched startup hub by DIPP along with the startup portal and mobile app provides a single point contact for the entire startup ecosystem. The portal will enable startups to avail all the tax benefits announced in the startup action plan. To reduce the regulatory burden on startups, a self-certification scheme in respect of nine labor and environment laws has also been initiated by various government departments.
