Only one project has so far secured clearance from the government out of over 200 aspiring entrepreneurs who had applied for permission to set up the new businessNew Delhi : The much trumpeted Prime Minister Modi’s flagship Startup India scheme launched by him in January has recorded a success rate of not even 1% in five months.
Only one project has so far secured clearance from the government out of over 200 aspiring entrepreneurs who had applied for permission to set up the new business.
The only lucky entrepreneur to benefit from the programme is from Hyderabad whose firm Cygne Energy Private Limited has come out with the most innovative power back-up solution replacing the traditional inverters used in homes, to cope up with the power shutdowns.
The only lucky entrepreneur to benefit from the programme is from Hyderabad whose firm Cygne Energy Private Limited has come out with the most innovative power back-up solution replacing the traditional inverters used in homes, to cope up with the power shutdowns.
Technology for the back-up was developed in collaboration with the IIT Chennai to provide a 48V DC as a power back-up line through intelligent use of solar power stored in batteries. No inverters mean 50% saving in the electricity bill that got the government’s instant certificate enabling the entrepreneur go to banks for loan.
The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry has launched a special Startup web portal and a mobile app to enable the startups avail all tax benefits announced for them. The officials explained away the low approval of the new enterprises under the scheme mainly because most of the applicants did not complete procedures and failed to submit relevant documents. They had no answers when asked whether it was the responsibility of the ministry to help them with all the paper work.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion is supposed to facilitate in setting up new industries under the scheme. Its Joint Secretary Shailendra Singh said over 200 persons had applied on the startup portal for registration, but many ideas were not found innovative enough while many did not complete the formalities required for registration on the startup portal.
Out of over 200 applicants, 170 did not complete the process of registration while 25 others did not give details of the business they want to start under the scheme. Many projects were rejected by the selection board that decides about certification of the startups since they were not innovative enough. The department has an inter-ministerial board to verify the eligibility of the startup’s eligibility before recommending them for tax benefits.
Officials in the department said many entrepreneurs do not approach the portal for registration as they got funding from other sources to start own business. Asked if the registration process on the portal need to be simpler, the officials said it is already very easy as everything is available on portal with no human intervention.
Experts point out that any person seeking to register on the portal may not have the incubators for funding. Aspiring entrepreneurs with innovative ideas but no IIT or IIM background find it difficult to get the incubators. Experts suggest that the government should better appoint a third party expert body to assess the innovative business ideas instead of rejecting every idea because of the typical bureaucratic approach.
The Modi government has already declared a fund for the startups in the union budget, allotting Rs 2,500 crore per annum to the SIDBI for the next four years to finance the startups.
