DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek On The Impact Of Startup India, State Startup Ranking And The Need For International Collaborations
In the 70 years since independence, India has evolved from a downtrodden, struggling nation into an international force to be reckoned with. Aiding the government in this ambitious mission is an army of promising startups that are working to bring change by embracing technology, disruption and innovation. Hailed as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, India is currently home to around 5,000 to 5,200 tech startups, having added 1,000+ new startups this past year alone.
Predictions by NASSCOM suggest that the number will likely increase 2x within the next three years. Today, the Indian startup network is populated by a fast-growing group of young innovators and problem solvers who collectively amassed $3.6 Bn in funding in Q3 2017. The ecosystem’s phenomenal growth in the last few years can be attributed to PM Narendra Modi’s sustained efforts to encourage entrepreneurship through a plethora of startup schemes and campaigns.
When it comes to bolstering the country’s startup ecosystem, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has played a significant role, under the leadership of Secretary Ramesh Abhishek. Programmes like Make in India and Startup India currently fall under the purview of DIPP, which in turn makes Mr Ramesh a key person impacting industrial growth in our country.
An IAS officer who has held numerous positions in the public administration before joining DIPP in 2016, Mr Ramesh recently sat down with Inc42 for an engaging conversation about the Indian government’s ongoing initiatives for startups. Watch the complete video of the AMA here →
And here are the most interesting views that Mr. Ramesh offered during the Facebook Live AMA session:
Question: It’s no secret that the government is very serious about facilitating entrepreneurial activities in the country. Startup India is giving momentum to that. Can you share with some figures about how these campaigns have benefitted emerging startups?
Ramesh Abhishek: In the last one year and nine months, since Startup India programme was launched, we have been able to help more than 14,000 startups in various ways. Almost 4,700 startups have been recognised by DIPP, giving them a host of services, incentives and facilities. We have been able to provide $242.7 Mn (INR 1,587 Cr) in funding to startups.
This has been through Fund of Funds and all the various schemes by the Department of Biotechnology, Department of Science and Technology as well as Ministry of Human Resource Development. We have also provided more than $198.8 Mn (INR 1,300 Cr) for setting up different types of infrastructure, in terms of research parks, incubation centres, business incubators and startup centres, among others.
We have also answered 70,000 queries through the Startup Hub, which is operated by Invest India. This has been since April last year. As a matter of fact, we also have a scheme for facilitating startups in various IPR-related work, like trademark and patents. DIPP currently have more than 1,000 facilitators who are actually helping the startups.
We have rolled out a learning and development module in January this year. At present, there are over 180K people enrolled in this programme, of which around 8,000 have already completed the module. We have also set up 941 tinkering labs in schools. Through our Fund of Funds, there have been to a large number of interventions. Not to mention the several regulatory changes that we have made.
To that end, we are working with regulators and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. DIPP also provides extensive marketing support to startups. There is a lot that we have done. But, we realise that it is a work in progress.
Question: We have 29 states and seven union territories, but only 16 states actually have dedicated startup policies. Is the central government taking any steps to help the state governments formulate their own startup policies?
Ramesh Abhishek: When Startup India programme was launched last year in January, only four Indian states had startup policies. Through our efforts and the initiatives of the states themselves, today 16 states have their own startup policies. Our teams from Startup India have worked with various states to help them come up with good policies, set up hubs that connect startups with government and other enablers in the ecosystem.
We feel that contributions of state governments are critical in this case. In a large country like ours, there can be a multiplier effect on the ground. The Government of India is doing a lot and will continue to do so. But states play a very important role as well.
Last year, we had a startup conference of all the states, along with incubators, investors and other stakeholders. This year too we held another conference. So much has changed in the last one year. Many states have come on board and we are actually looking forward to much greater involvement from other states this year.
Question: There have been reports that the DIPP is working on a state startup ranking framework. Can you shed some light on that?
Ramesh Abhishek: The ranking of states and other institutions is actually helping focus attention on many of the issues that are part of the ranking framework. Once you start ranking states, there is a sudden realisation that there is a subject that needs attention. Also, the states get to learn each other’s best practices.
This move is basically aimed at drawing attention of the decision makers to a particular issue. DIPP has already consulted individual states for our ranking framework. By and large, we have finalised it. We are hoping that, from December 1, we will be able to roll out an index of state startup rankings. Through this, we are evaluating a state’ support to its startup ecosystem.
So we are putting together a document, in which we listing out the state’s support to the emerging startups. This will help the states not only make good policies and schemes but also learn from each other. I think this evaluation in the public domain is very important.
Question: While India is progressing in terms of ease of doing business and also becoming the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, there are also a lot of challenges, especially pertaining to climate change, pollution and infrastructure deficiencies. How is the government thinking of including startups in its efforts to conquer these problems?
Ramesh Abhishek: Unfortunately, our support from the government to startups started in a major way only in the last two years. If you see other countries like the US, China and the UK, they have been supporting startups for the last 40 years. The amount of work India needs to do is a lot. With respect to the issues concerned, today more and more government departments are identifying the challenges and encouraging startups to come up with technical solutions.
Recently, in March and April, a series of hackathons were organised by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, in which a large number of startups and institutions participated. Similarly, we are fostering various collaborations with other countries as well.
