DPIIT to organise global summit on startups on Jan 15-16

The Commerce and Industry Ministry will be organising a global summit on startups on January 15 and 16 next year to promote the growth of the sector, an official said.

Startups from Asian countries, domestic players and global entrepreneurs would participate in the virtual summit, the official in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the participants on January 16.

Global and domestic venture capital funds, regulatory authorities like SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), Reserve Bank of India, Central Board and taxation agencies - CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) and CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs) would also participate in the summit.

The government has taken several measures to strengthen the startup ecosystem in the country to promote innovation.

The department is also working on setting up credit guarantee fund and national seed fund for the sector.

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Startup India, a flagship initiative of the government launched in January 2016, intends to build a strong ecosystem for the growth of startup businesses, to drive sustainable economic growth and generate employment opportunities. The Startup India action plan provides tax and other incentives.

So far, over 41,000 startups have been recognised by the department.

In another development, DPIIT has invited applications for National Startup Awards 2021, to recognise innovations focused towards indigenisation of key products, an official statement said on Tuesday.

Acknowledging the efforts, initiatives and resilience demonstrated by the startups over the period of unprecedented challenges during the coronavirus pandemic, additional categories have been introduced to the awards, it said.

The applications for the awards are open till January 31, 2021.

"The awards for startups will be given in 49 areas classified into 15 broad sectors," it added.

(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)