Gist of Prarambh: Opportunity for Startups | Gist of Rajya Sabha TV / RSTV (now Sansad TV) - UPSC PDF Download

The Big Picture - Prarambh: Opportunity for Startups

Context

Recently, Recently Prime Minister addressed the Prarambh- The Startup India International Summit.

Background

• This two-day summit marks the fifth anniversary of the Startup India initiative.
• It also comes as a follow-up of the announcement made by Prime Minister at fourth BIMSTEC Summit held in Kathmandu in August 2018, wherein India committed to host the BIMSTEC Startup Conclave.

Summary of The Debate

About Prarambh

• It is organised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• As a noun, ‘Prarambh’ means ‘an auspicious beginning’. As a verb, it implies ‘to start’.
• It is believed to bring together top policy makers, industry, academia, investors, startups and all stakeholders from across the globe.
• In addition to deliberating on good practices from best of the ecosystems across the world, the sessions of the Summit are designed to showcase the spread and depth of entrepreneurship based on innovation in India.
• The idea is to attain attention of global capital for startups in India, mobilize domestic capital, provide opportunities for accessing international markets to our startups and evolve enabling policy provisions.

Objectives of Prarambh

• Develop capacities of entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• Enable ease of doing business for startups and investors.
• Mobilize global and domestic capital for investments into startups.
• Exchange knowledge on best practices on nurturing startup ecosystems.
• Encouraging and inspiring the youth for innovation and entrepreneurship.
• Showcasing high-quality, high technology and frugal innovations from India.
• Provide opportunities to startups for entering domestic (private and public) and international markets.

Startup India Initiative

• Startup India was launched on 16th January 2016 by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, with an objective to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country that will drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities.
• The initiative aims to empower startups grow through innovation and design. The initiative not only brought a sharp focus on startups but catalysed the Indian startup ecosystem and accelerated Indian entrepreneurs building innovative solutions for Indian and global needs.

Advantage of Startup India

• The Indian startup ecosystem is counted amongst the world’s largest startup ecosystems and is growing at an unprecedented rate, contributing to the innovation driven growth for the Indian economy.
• India has been very active in creating a healthy startup ecosystem, and the growth in the number of startups is increasing year on year. In fact, it is among the top five startup communities in the world.
• Seventy-two percent of the founders are less than 35 years old, which makes it an unprecedented pool of younger people.
• Even with the young entrepreneurs, India ranks in the top five nations solving social issues with innovative solutions. Hence, looking at the external environment of the startups there have been a considerable number of pros than cons.
• India has the third highest number of startup incubators and accelerators in the world, after China and the US. The number of startups and incubators grew by 40 percent in 2016-17. Of these, 30 academic incubators were established under the government’s ‘Start-up India, Stand-up India’ initiative.
• Startup India initiative has played a pivotal role in spurring the spirit of entrepreneurship in every corner of the country.
• From the rank of 81 in Global Innovation Index in 2016, toady India’s rank is 48.
• Since the launch of the initiative, several programs have been undertaken to contribute to transforming India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers.

Challenges

• India lacks a clear long-term start-up roadmap, as economic liberalization is quite new to India.
• In India, having a red tape problem earlier, people are not that startup friendly.
• Funding is also an issue in country like India, though many new players are coming forward to help in this.

Conclusion