New Delhi, Jan 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week has launched the prestigious and ambitious Startup India, an initiative where Modi, along with his parliament colleagues announced the innovation for the new-age entrepreneurs in the country.
#StartupIndia movement begins today. This movement celebrates the energy & enterprising spirit of our youth. https://t.co/E4xfKV7lmB
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 16, 2016
Speaking on the launch, PM Modi said that the way you need to start business has changed and unlike the past, the new age enterprenuers had changed the perception of a business. Some of the big names include Masayoshi Son, CEO, and Nikesh Arora, President and COO, SoftBank, Travis Kalanick, Founder, Uber, and Adam Nuemann, CEO, WeWork. Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal, Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl, Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, ShopClues founder Radhika Agarwal, and Oyo Rooms’ Ritesh Agarwal.
Key announcements:
The Start Up India policy would attempt to address two key concerns the government wants to fix in India’s start-up ecosystem. They will be different from micro, small, medium and large enterprises that are built on conventional business models.
There would be a special support structure for such innovative start-ups, including funding from the government.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government wants to make doing business easy by restricting the role of the State. Start Up India will give freedom from the State.
Industry reactions:
Zakir Hussain of ESS Distribution: If the startup is just not another drama of the government then it is a good initiative. We need to wait and watch to see whether the policies are implanted properly or misused.
Pankaj Jain, CEO, PanzerIT: This is a wonderful initiative by the government. However, not sure how many will really get benefitted out of this. As a startup, as an Inidan, I feel more secured and confident on such initiatives.
Prashant Rai, founder and CEO, OneTimeJobs.com, OneTimeJobs.com We truly appreciate all the initiatives that the government will be taking to support startups. On these initiatives, Government will be as successful as it was with the 100 smart cities concept. However, the concern of taxation on VC funding has not been spoken about, which still remains a roadblock.
Dinesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO, IndiaMart.Com I wholeheartedly welcome Prime minister’s action plan at the startup India standup India mission. These policies should be applicable to all startups including MSMEs in manufacturing, trading, retailing and services sector.
Debadutta Upadhaya, Co Founder, Timesaverz This is a encouraging initiative to take India’s startup ecosystem to the a next level. A business friendly tax environment for would be promising for creating an organised market from a highly unorganized market
Raghav Chandra, Co founder, Urbanclap This initiative of PM Modi is the right step in making the environment friendlier for entrepreneurs and thus encouraging them to start up. We will wait for the fine print to understand exactly what the next steps will be. However, I can only say that outcome will be in the positive direction and we are very excited!
Shaifali Agarwal Holani, Founder and CEO, EasyFix, “What an initiative and a great day for India. Most populated India has sharpest brains of all times and this initiative will give a platform to many enthusiastic but under confident talents to come out of their ordeal. Encouraging privatisation will speed the pace at which India is developing and we will become a developed country soon.”
Anurag Jain, Co-founder & COO, Girnar “It is exciting that the government is standing up and noticing the startup revolution in India and calling on the youth to be job makers and not job seekers. From a policy standpoing there are some welcome changes. Relaxation on Capital Gains for funds is the biggest, including exemption from capital gains when one has the ability to raise capital over Fair Market Value. However the fine prints are yet to be seen on this. Ease of starting a company, regulatory compliances and self-certifications will ensure that startups can run hassle free without government interference. As part of Ease of Doing Business, the single window mechanism, can help new entrepreneurs in smooth functioning of business. Schemes like AIM, Credit Guarantee fund, Incubation centres and demarcating a fund for new entrepreneurs can also be huge if the steering committee to channelize these funds has able people who can judge innovative ideas. Protection of IP in India has always been a issue, and new policy on patents can help protect various innovations that the country produces. Although, the Income Tax exemption might not help the startups too much as during build up phase most startups either lose money or make very little profits.”
Vijay KG, founder, Luxepolis “Income and Capital Gains Tax exemptions game changers. One can expect India giving Silicon Valley run for its money over the next three decades. Today’s announcements are enormously positive in potentially making India (replacing USA) as the country that leads and drives future innovation in the world”