BENGALURU: Pointing out to the small share of Indian investments in start-ups in the country, T V Mohandas Pai, chairman of the Manipal Global Education, said only 10 per cent of the capital in start-ups now is Indian. “We do not want to be a digital colony,” he said, addressing Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a post-budget interaction organised by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Bengaluru on Sunday.
“Of the 43 unicorns, 21 are outside India and have an Indian subsidiary. We do not want to be a subsidiary for an MNC outside India. Indian start-ups suffer from lack of capital and tough regulations. Capital is the biggest handicap for Indian start-ups in India,” Pai stressed.
He pointed at other challenges such as overseas companies not investing in India due to regulations and seeking ease of doing business. “There are 1,200 agri-tech startups of which 300 are funded. They all ensure that farmers earn 15-20 per cent more by connecting them to the market. We want NABARD to create a fund to invest in startups so that business can go up from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore a month in the next three years. Farmers will thus get more income,” he suggested.
‘Budget should have covered e- education’
Speaking about children who have been left out of the digital revolution during the pandemic, Manipal Global Education T V Mohandas Pai said that only 40 per cent of school-going kids had access to online education. Pointing out that that government action is needed on this front, he said that unfortunately, it did not feature in the budget. He proposed that in two years, 10 crore government schoolchildren can be given tablets costing Rs 10,000 each, with preloaded software for education. It can be a centrestate initiative costing Rs 1 lakh crore, he felt. “About Rs 40,000-Rs 50,000 crore from the universal service obligation fund we pay to telecom companies can be used for this,” Pai said.