The Startup India initiative was launched by the Government on 16th January 2016 to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation, startups and encouraging investments in the startup ecosystem of the country. This information has been provided by the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Som Parkash in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
In order to meet these objectives, the Government unveiled an Action Plan for startups comprising of schemes and incentives envisaged to create a vibrant startup ecosystem in the country. The Action Plan comprises of 19 action items spanning across areas such as “Simplification and hand holding”, “Funding support and incentives” and “Industry-academia partnership and incubation”.
For attaining specific objectives, various programs are implemented by the Government under the Startup India initiative. As a result of sustained efforts, the Government has recognised 1,14,902 entities as startups as on 31st October 2023.
Realising the action items of the Startup India Action Plan, the Government is implementing flagship Schemes under Startup India initiative namely, Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS) to support startups at various stages of their business cycle to enable startups to graduate to a level where they are able to raise investments or seek loans.