BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced a Rs 1,000 crore 'startup India seed fund' aimed to support the early-stage ventures during the Prarambh-Startup International summit.
Under the scheme, grants up to Rs 20 lakh will be provided to the startups for 'Proof of Concept' whereas funding up to Rs 50 lakh can also be availed through convertible debentures or debt or debt-linked instruments for commercialization. PM Modi said that the government will also provide guarantees for startups to raise the fundings.
The Prarambh-Startup International summit involved the participation of BIMSTEC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand) nations in the first-ever conclave.
While lauding India's startup ecosystem for immense progress made in the last five years, Modi said India's unicorns ( billion-dollar startups) should now focus on becoming global tech giants competing for futuristic technology that can serve a huge population. "Today, more than 30 startups have crossed the USD 1 billion mark. Among these, 11 of our Startups have joined the club in 2020, that is, during the corona times,” the PM said.
The ongoing decade is a decade of innovation and the future technology will come from Asia’s laboratory and that the nation should take the responsibility to develop the ecosystem. “Together we serve one-fifth of the world's population and have USD 3.8 trillion GDP strength,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister also emphasized the need for innovations to come from beyond metro, tier-I cities and noted that currently, 80% of India’s districts cover the startup ecosystem with 45% from smaller towns and cities that have become the brand ambassadors of local products. Besides, the development in sectors such as environment, defence, space, agriculture, finance, and education will lead to a value-creation cycle, thus creating more opportunities for the startups in these areas.
Earlier, during a round table conference, Union Minister of Commerce and Industries Piyush Goyal said that there has been a K-shaped recovery in the second half of 2020 with sectors such as education, healthcare, e-commerce, and food delivery having been positively impacted, while sectors like travel and hospitality were severely impacted.