HYDERABAD: Startup has been the buzzword in Telangana ever since the formation of T-Hub in 2015. While the state government continues to work towards pushing Hyderabad on the global map of startup destinations, as far as the numbers go, the city has a long way to go.
According to the Centre, Telangana stands fifth in the country in the number of startups recognised by the Startup India initiative of the Centre. On Monday, Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu said in the ongoing Lok Sabha session that the programme had granted recognition to 10,950 startups in the country till July 5. Among the 35 States and Union Territories, Telangana stood in the 5th position with just 5.4 per cent of all recognised startups.
The State is home to 592 startups recognised by the Startup India initiative. The top four spots were grabbed by Maharashtra (2,130), Karnataka (1,611), Delhi (1,485) and Uttar Pradesh (891). Telangana is also facing close competition from States like Gujarat (588), Tamil Nadu (585) and Haryana (557) that grabbed the 6th, 7th and 8th positions, respectively.
The minister provided details of the number of startups funded in the country through Alternative Investment Funds under the Fund of Funds, a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore created for Startup India. Till now, 142 startups in the country have received Rs 602.60 crore, of which 5 in Telangana received Rs 20.50 crore.
Karnataka topped the list with 46 startups receiving Rs 190.02 crore, followed by Maharashtra where 42 startups received Rs 200.96 crore and Delhi where 23 startups received Rs 51.32 crore through the initiative.
Replying to another question on the incubation centres set up under Startup India to provide support for firms, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry CR Chaudhary said that 80 incubators have been shortlisted for establishment under the Atal Innovation Mission in the country in 2018. Only 6 of these are in Telangana.