Entrepreneurship classes and Business Blasters Program to be introduced at college level after its grand success in schools: CM Arvind Kejriwal
Delhi Government will support college students working on business ideas in all possible ways it can: CM Arvind Kejriwal
Delhi Government will help startups get collateral-free loans which will be interest free for a year: CM Arvind Kejriwal
Delhi Government to empanel CAs, Lawyers and Experts to aid startups for free; their service charges will be borne by the government: CM Arvind Kejriwal
Will ease out procurement norms to help startups but not bargain with the quality of our products: CM Arvind Kejriwal
Students building startups while studying in Delhi Government’s colleges will be able to seek 1-2 years of leave: CM Arvind Kejriwal
A robust task force will oversee registration of startups under the policy: CM Arvind Kejriwal
Hope that Delhi will be the home of Unicorns and behemoth businesses that the world will look up to: CM Arvind Kejriwal
NEW DELHI:
Delhi is inching closer towards becoming an international startup hub under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal. In this vein, the Delhi Cabinet today approved the implementation of the Delhi Startup Policy. Sharing details about the development, CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “Entrepreneurship classes and Business Blasters Program to be introduced at college level after its grand success in schools. Delhi Government will support college students working on business ideas in all possible ways it can. Delhi Government will help startups get collateral-free loans which will be interest free for a year. Delhi Government to empanel CAs, Lawyers and Experts to aid startups for free; their service charges will be borne by the government. We will ease out procurement norms to help startups but not bargain with the quality of our products. Students building startups while studying in Delhi Government’s colleges will be able to seek 1-2 years of leave. A robust task force will oversee registration of startups under the policy. I hope that Delhi will be the home of Unicorns and behemoth businesses that the world will look up to.”
A meeting of the Delhi Cabinet chaired by CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal was held at the Delhi Secretariat today. This meeting saw the proposal of the Delhi Startup Policy be approved to give a boost to the country’s economy. Presenting the policy framework, the Industries Department shared the vision behind the policy that seeks to enable Delhi to emerge as a Global Innovation Hub and the most preferred destination for Startups by 2030 by creating an enabling ecosystem for innovation-based economy and fostering entrepreneurial spirit through a robust support mechanism.
Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “Our country’s hope and future lies in the hands of our youth. Our youth is talented, capable, hardworking and intelligent. But our country’s system hasn’t let them thrive. Be it the education system, the employment system or the political system, they’ve all hindered the growth of the country. Today, our children run from pillar to post to apply for jobs. On the contrary, the Delhi Government is eradicating this problem by promoting an environment conducive for businesses. Our entire budget for this year focuses on businesses and employment generation. We’re revamping markets, setting up the Dilli Bazaar portal, organising the Delhi Shopping Festival and doing much more to help boost the economy. In this vein, we’re teaching school students entrepreneurship in classes 9th-12th. We’re giving students seed capital, as one may have seen in the Business Blasters Programme. Thousands of students have become businesspersons under this initiative. This initiative will now be replicated at the college level also. This will help create job-providers and not job-creators. They will be given full support for building businesses while studying in colleges as well. ”
He added, “The Delhi Cabinet today approved the ambitious Delhi Startup Policy. This policy has been made after studying startup policies from across the world and has picked the best features of them. The Delhi Government will provide both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to the youth who want to build their startups. For instance, the Delhi Government will pay upto 50% of the rent of a startup’s office lease. Similarly, we will pitch in for a portion of the salaries that these startups will pay to their employees. We will further reimburse their patent, copyright and trademarking costs and help with internet bills among other provisions. We will also offer collateral free loans, interest free loans and incentivise incubation centres and fabrication labs.”
The CM further said, “The bigger picture however is, when a youth wants to build their business, they give 10% time to their business and 90% to paperwork and official formalities. We will overcome this problem by empanelling agencies and professionals to aid these startups for free. There will be panels of lawyers, experts, CAs and other such professionals who will provide free of cost services to the startups and the Delhi Government in turn will pay them. Our teams will help startups in marketing, developing their social media, taking their services to the market, investor approach, taxation, filing, loan work and the like. All of this will be free.”
He continued, “Another big intervention from our end will be in procurement, we will ensure the highest quality in procurement but at the same time, ease rules for startups. If there is any student in a Delhi Government institute who develops a product or a startup they want to focus on, we will offer them a two-year leave to work on it. The student can instead develop their business and return after the leave and get their degree. The whole policy will be taken care of by a task-force. This task force will consist of one government official and the rest will be academics, experts and industry representatives. 85% of the people in the task force will be from the industry. People will apply to this task force and it will further consider their application for acceptance. I am sure, this ripple of a policy will lead to a wave of startups in Delhi. Delhi will be the home of behemoth businesses and unicorns.”
Overview of Delhi Startup Policy
Vision : To enable Delhi to emerge as a Global Innovation Hub and the most preferred destination for Startups by 2030 by creating an enabling ecosystem for innovation-based economy and fostering entrepreneurial
spirit through a robust support mechanism
Mission: Encouraging, facilitating and supporting 15,000 Startups by 2030; Encouraging entrepreneurship; Generating new avenues of employment; Creating a conducive environment for learning from early education; Facilitating convenient access to funding; Fostering innovative ideas in S&T among youth; Proactive engagement of academia and industry; Establishing state-of-the-art incubation infrastructure; Nurturing Startups to become unicorns.
Focus Areas: Education and Education Technology; Healthcare and Health Technology; Tourism and Hospitality; Transportation & Logistics; Automotive; e-Governance for business and citizen connect; Artificial Intelligence (AI); Machine Learning (ML); Internet of Things (IoT); Software-as-a-Service (SaaS); Fintech; e-Waste Management; Robotics & Automation; Green Technology; Bio-pharma and Medical Devices; IT & ITES.
Policy Governance: Three committees will be constituted for the policy governance mechanism. This includes Startup Policy Monitoring Committee, Startup Task Force and Nodal Agency. A Startup Policy Monitoring Committee will be formed to oversee the Delhi Startup Policy. It will be headed by the Finance Minister of the Delhi Government. It will consist of the Industries Minister of Delhi Government and senior representatives of other state departments as members. In addition, an officer will be appointed by the Minister of Industries, Government of Delhi to chair the Startup Task Force. The committee will consist of 5 percent government representatives, 10 percent educational institutions and 85 percent people from the private sector. The main function of the committee would be to evaluate and approve the applications of recognized entrepreneurs, startups and incubators. The nodal agency will have a cell under the supervision of the Industries Department to implement the Startup Policy. It will have direct contact with startups and stakeholders.
Fiscal Incentives: Reimbursement on lease rentals – 50% up to INR 5L p.a; Reimbursement grants for filing Patent/ Trademark/ Copyright/ Industrial Design – up to INR 1L (Indian) & up to 3L (international); Reimbursement for exhibition stall/rental cost – 100% for women/ underprivileged/ differently-abled persons & 50% for others up to INR 5L once a year; Monthly allowance towards operational/ employee cost – INR 30K p.m for 1 year; Token prizes for the winner of competitive programmes & selected Startups; Scholarship towards educational fee for student winners; Financial grants towards capital and operational expenditures in the establishment, expansion and operation of incubation centres, fabrication labs and co-working spaces; Financial support for procurement of key software upto 50%; Reimbursement on internet charges – 50% up to a max INR 2.5L p.a for 3 years; Fund-of-funds with an initial corpus of INR 20 Cr.
Non fiscal incentives : Developing a conducive curriculum for students; Facilitating strong linkages between the startup and industry association; Facilitating participation of companies for subsidised subscriptions of technology offerings; Organising fundraising events; Relaxing government procurements process for startups; Access to government data to drive e-governance pilot projects.