Elections UnInfluenced: a series by UnFound
Chapter 2: The great political startup
[Read the previous chapter: Chapter 1].
With the second phase of the 2019 general elections underway, two important cities will hit the ballot today — Chennai and Bengaluru. Both cities are known for many things, from filter coffee to dosas and of course, IT!
Over the last two decades, both cities have experienced a massive expansion in the start-up sector. But everyone is asking; what happened in the last five years?
At the face value, things have changed. Our rankings have improved, some amount of bureaucratic red tape has been cut, some requirements have been removed. But babugiri still persists.
India’s ranking on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business scale has jumped from 142 in 2015 to 77 in 2018. This has been attributed to several factors, such as the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), easing of norms in acquiring construction permits, and doing away with a myriad number of requirements to register a business. Interestingly, the top performing states in terms of Ease of Doing Business in India have been Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Haryana.
For entrepreneurs looking to make their mark, the Startup India programme, launched with much fanfare by the incumbent Narendra Modi administration has been both praised and criticized by many. While many an existing startup has said that the programme hasn’t impacted them at all, data from NASSCOM shows that 1,200 new startups were set up in 2018, a 20% increase from the previous year.
While both Ease of Doing Business and Startup India have received their fair share of brickbats and bouquets, the question that remains is:
Did they impact me as an existing company or were they only for new ones?
On the back of both these programmes, there was angst in the community about the dreaded Angel Tax. The government on its part decided to announce a blanket exemption on startups with investment below ₹25 crores from Angel Tax while also stating that a company would be classified as a startup for 10 years against the earlier seven.
Both the Congress and the BJP manifestos have made several promises to the sector in an attempt to woo potential voters. While the BJP has remained tight-lipped on the Angel Tax issue, Congress has promised to withdraw it completely. The BJP has promised a Startup Seed Fund and establishment of 50,000 startups with innovation zones, incubators and accelerators, the Congress has promised a National Data Science Institute and a National Mission for new and upcoming technology including Big Data, Machine Learning & 3D Printing. Both parties have also spoken about foreign direct investment (FDI).
It seems that both parties have promised the sun, the moon & many stars in an attempt to woo the startup community. But will voters bite the bullet?
This article was written by Srikanth Ramakrishnan, using inputs from UnFound’s AI. UnFound’s AI brings in multiple perspectives and opinions to help our readers read both sides of a story and make a balanced decision. Download our app today!