The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) stated as of 1 December 2017, a total of 5,350 startups have been recognized under the Startup India programme. Till date, close to 5,898 have been recognized by the DIPP for availing benefits.
The ministry further added, “Under DIPP recognized 5,350 startups at least 40,000 people have been employed.” The 5,350 recognized startups have successfully created almost 40,000 jobs in the country, according to DIPP. However, the government had initially promised the Fund of Funds would help in creating close to 1.8 million jobs by 2020. The Startups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) scheme, which helps startups get 80% waiver in funding over the Intellectual property claims and patents, has received 975 applications so far.
Under the Fund of Funds scheme, on the other hand, 75 startups have received close to $ 52 million and a total of 74 startups have been recognized to avail tax exemption under Section 80 IAC of the Income Tax Act. Rs. 500 crores was initially released to Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in 2015- 2016 under the Fund of Funds initiative. In 2016 – 2017, Rs. 100 crores were further released to the fund.
Further, the Startup India Hub, established as a single point of contact for the entire startup ecosystem, has resolved 75,643 queries pertaining to starting a business, access to incubation and raising funds, among other things. Established in June this year, the hub claims to have more than 15,000 active users. According to reports, DIPP has stressed on the fact that a corpus of $ 78 million has been handed over to SIDBI under Funds of Funds.
India currently ranks as the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. Recently, the daughter of the President of United States, Ivanka Trump also visited Hyderabad for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit which was aimed at promoting startups and women entrepreneurs.