Page 19 - Digital Indial

STARTUP ECOSYSTEM 219

and create a mass awareness, to self-certify compliance under 6 in the statutory fee for filing appli-
Startup India programme was Labour laws. This has been con- cations.
launched in 2016. firmed by 33 states and union terri- A government, being the largest
The union budget of 2017 an- tories for a period of 5 years. procurement of goods and serv-
nounced following incentives for A Startup India Hub has been set ices is also a potential customer for
startups: up as a facilitation centre to handle all businesses. To facilitate start-
l Reduce income tax rate for A Startup India queries from students and others ups getting a chance to compete in
companies with an annual turnover Hub has been interested in setting up of a star- public procurement, relaxed norms
of up to Rs. 50 crore to 25%. This set up as a tup. An online version, Startup In- for micro and small enterprises
would provide MSMEs a reduction facilitation dia Online Hub has also been set up have been provisioned in the pro-
centre to
of 5% from the current applicable handle queries in 2017, which has already got over curement policy of the Ministry of
rate of 30%. This benefit would also from students 10,000 registrations. Micro, Small and Medium Enter-
help startups. and others Patent design and Trademark prises (MSME).
l Startups could avail the in- interested in application facilitators have been At the same time, the Expendi-
come tax exemption for 3 consecu- setting up of a empaneled who offer IP filing as- ture Department has also notified
tive assessment years out of a startup sistance to startups. DIPP bears that all the Central Ministries/De-
block of 7 years. This benefit could the facilitation cost on behalf of partments shall relax the condi-
help startups decide to avail the re- startups and also provides a rebate tion of prior experience and prior
lief the year of their choice to man-
age the cash flows. GLOBAL TOP 10 R&D SPENDING
Besides these, the government
has put in place a number of ben- COMPANIES IN 2017 (US
efits under Startup India, which
are amended on the need basis to $BILLION)
further support the growth of star-
tups in India. Some of the major
initiatives as per the programme AMAZON 16.1
include:
Considering entities up to 7 years
as startups to extend the benefits ALPHABET 13.9
of the programme. In the case of
Biotechnology startups, the period
is 10 years. SAMSUNG 12.7
Scalable business model with
high potential of employment gen-
eration or wealth creation has also INTEL CO 12.7
been included in the definition of a
startup.
Environmental clearance has VOLKSWAGEN 12.1
been one of the major hurdles and
has stalled several major projects
in India. Realising this, startups MICROSOFT 12
falling within 36 white category in-
dustries are not required to seek
the clearance under acts pertaining 11.4
to environmental clearances. ROCHE
Startups are allowed to self-
certify compliance for a period of 1 10.1
year with the Apprenticeship Rules, MERCK
1992 of the Apprenticeship Act
1961. The Ministry of Skill Develop- 10
ment and Entrepreneurship has APPLE
already issued an advisory to state
governments in this regard. 9.6
Ministry of Labour and Employ- NOVARTIS
ment (MoLE) have allowed startups
Source: Statista.com