Goyal calls for greater focus on nurturing entrepreneurship in Tier I, II cities

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday called for greater focus on nurturing entrepreneurship in Tier I and II cities while suggesting successful startups to engage with the youth to inculcate entrepreneurial spirit.

About 45 percent startups in India are from Tier II and III cities and 623 districts have at least one recognized startup.

According to the ministry, during 2018-21, almost 5.9 lakh jobs were created by startups, out of which 1.9 lakh are generated so far this year.

The minister was addressing the third meeting of the National Startup Advisory Council, which was constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to advise the government on measures needed to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country.

Goyal said the 'Startup India' movement has brought a 'change in mindset' from 'can do' to 'will do' and has helped move past traditional notions of entrepreneurship.

He assured that the government as an enabler is committed to developing a robust startup ecosystem by providing exceptional benefits such as 80 percent rebate in patent filing and 50 percent on trademark filing, and relaxation in public procurement norms.

Apart from mass jobs creation, our startups have the potential to catalyse India's integration in global value chains, he added.

He urged successful entrepreneurs, especially unicorns to share their experiences with students and the youth in order to inculcate startup culture and entrepreneurial spirit at grassroot level, especially in northeast regions.

He asked academia, government, and industry to work hand in hand in promoting entrepreneurship at the grassroot level.

"Indian Missions all over the world would also be sensitised about the need to promote entrepreneurship in India and this would open doors across the world to Indian startups," the minister said.

Further, he called upon startups to explore the unexplored areas like rural tourism in terms of agri-stays, hotels, and homestays that would help create additional income for farmers.

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To augment Seed Capital, Goyal said, "we must encourage the investment of domestic capital in our startups".

The key interventions discussed during the meeting were National Capacity Building Programme for Incubators, providing thrust to the startups engaged in manufacturing, empowering the larger pool of family offices and high net worth (HNI) individuals to invest in startups.

Besides, accelerating deep-tech startups, establishing an international platform and a gateway for Indian startups to go global, propelling participation of women in startups and a holistic programme which aims at enabling global mentorship, market access, international opportunities, were also discussed.

Among others, the meeting was virtually attended by Prashanth Prakash from Accel, Debjani Ghosh from NASSCOM, Amitabha Bandyopadhyay from IIT Kanpur. Council members included SoftBank India Country Head Manoj Kohli, Sequoia Capital MD Rajan Anandan, SIDBI CMD Sivasubramanian Ramann, and Aarin Capital Partners Chairman Mohandas Pai.