Will Start-Up India provide enough fuel to go the distance?

16 January 2016 will go down in the history of India as the day when one of the most ambitious missions, till date, set sail. The idea of “Start Up India, Stand Up India“ which  was earlier introduced in PM Modi's Independence Day speech, recently took wings as the abstract idea evolved into a full-fledged campaign.

During his speech, the Prime Minister reiterated his government’s stand, saying the demand for OROP has been accepted “in-principle.”
(Source: Express photo by Neeraj Priyadarshi)

The main aim of the action plan is to provide impetus to innovation and encourage the latent talent among the youth of India by liberalising business. The campaign will celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit in the country’s youth and will provide them with the incentives requisite to lift-off their prospective business ventures.

The start-ups present a rare bright spot in an economy that has expanded at a disappointing pace over the past three years and one in which private investment still hasn’t picked up. This campaign thus echoes with the bigger cause of revamping the growth rate of the Indian Economy.

Modi has announced an all-inclusive action plan to vivify the young ventures that will boost employment generation and wealth creation in the country.

The 19-point action plan for start-up enterprises in India as enumerated by the govt mainly included a Rs.10,000-crore fund to be deployed over the next four years, exemptions from capital gains tax on investments, favourable labour policies, faster and cheaper patent applications and easy registration for new firms. The measures were announced by Modi at an event called Start-up India, a government initiative that brought young entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and policymakers under one roof.

Furthermore, the campaign aims to fill gaps in the economy for the growth and development of start-ups and will aim to boost digital entrepreneurship at the grassroots level. Hence, now with the Government’s support, start-ups can be built in a day which will definitely motivate many young entrepreneurs to turn ideas into action, which in turn will transform the Indian youth from being job-seekers to playing the role of job-creators.

Also, another undeniable advantage of this would be that it will make it easy for the new players to enter the market and make setting up of new businesses a hassle free process. With faster patent registration and protection for Intellectual Property rights, every entrepreneur would be confident of not losing his or her ideas to any other. Also the provision of ‘Easy exit’ through the proposed Bankruptcy code will motivate a new generation of start-ups proliferating all across the country.

The relaxation of the financial and labour norms is a great step towards making things simpler for young startups so they can focus on innovation without getting entangled in some of these norms that are more applicable to larger entities, which in turn will encourage more youngsters to enter the field of entrepreneurship and innovate and create some ground breaking products that will be used by people around the world. India is already a leading startup hub and it would okay to presume that with the right support from the government, it can rapidly become the innovation hub of the world.

Lastly, although a noble cause and great strategy on paper; the government would have to carefully monitor its implementation and ensure that the benefits can be reaped by the poorest of poor strata of the society. The government should also help provide a voice to the start-ups, by promoting them across the world which will help them emerge internationally, so that they stand a chance of competing with already established major players in the market. Secondly, it should focus on creating more start-up friendly policies that will nurture their growth and remove onerous government regulations and red tape, as well as keep a hawk eye on whether the funds assigned are reaching the people , that they are intended to reach, or not.

The real question thus remains “Will start-up India campaign provide India with enough fuel to go the distance?”


Article by Rishibha Tuteja
Last minute Blogger, fangirl by profession. A Bibliophile by heart, Tech–Enthusiast by choice.
She breathes dreams like air and can be reached at https://twitter.com/BibliophileRish