New Delhi: To improve ease of business, especially for startups, the government of India has relaxed procedural laws where startups working in areas covered under the list of 36 “white” category industries have been exempted from all the applicable compliances under 3 Environment Laws viz. the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Cess (Amendment) Act, 2003 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. Inaugurating Start-up India States’ Conference today (23 July 2016), Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman has informed measures already taken and initiatives to be taken by the government in the future to boost startup eco system in India.
When startups are scaling up and trying to venture into new markets, the government has relaxed norms on prior experience and turnover for public procurement for micro and small enterprises in the Procurement Policy of Ministry of MSME. The minister said that more than 250 incubators have been recognized by Government of India to provide recommendation to startups. In order to augment the existing list of incubators, a module to recognize incubators has been launched. This shall enable incubators to obtain recognition from Government of India, allowing them to issue recommendation letters to startups.
Further, Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman said that seven proposals for Research Parks, 16 proposals for TBIs (Technology Business Incubators) and 13 proposals for startup centers have been recommended by the National Expert Advisory Committee (NEAC) formed by MHRD. The government is considering to implement these proposals in the current financial year.
As innovation is the core of a startup, the government has relaxed norms for filling IPR applications. Now a startup would now be required to obtain only a Certificate of Recognition from DIPP and would not be required to be examined by the Inter-Ministerial Board, as was being done earlier, the minister said. A panel of facilitators has been constituted for providing assistance and support in filing applications for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), wherein, DIPP would bear the facilitation cost.
Highlighting the current strength of India’s startup ecosystem, Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman said that around 4,400 technology startups exist in India and the number is expected to reach 12,000+ by 2020, driven by a young and diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem. India is the world’s youngest startup nation with 72% founders less than 35 years, added the minister.
