National Startup Day

On National Startup Day, it is indeed a moment to celebrate that roughly half of all recognised startups in India are now based in Tier II and Tier III cities. 

National Startup Day

• In 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced January 16 as the National Startup Day, to celebrate the spirit of the Indian startup ecosystem. 
• The importance of January 16 is that it was the founding day of the Startup India initiative.

About Startup India Initiative

• Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, intended to catalyze startup culture and build a strong and inclusive ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in India. 
• To mark the occasion, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is also organizing the Startup India Innovation Week from January 10-16.
• While the DPIIT heads the initiative, five government departments — the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), and NITI Aayog — are primarily responsible for the initiatives under Startup India. 

Startup in India

• India has overtaken the US and China as the third-largest environment in the world for startups, according to the Economic Survey 2021–22. 
• In India, there are more than 80,000 startups, and more than hundred of them have become unicorns
• Currently, there are over 88,000 startups recognised by the DPIIT.
• The government recently announced a USD 200 million investment in startups that design code, tools, or devices.

Benefits of Startups for the Economy

• Opportunity: Start-ups are providing an opportunity to the entrepreneurial youth of India an opportunity to express their idea and grow their finances exponentially.
• Wealth creation has therefore become synonymous with start-ups.
• Employment: The establishment of a start-up brings with it growth in employment opportunities.
• Catering to the needy section: The creation of products or services can cater to the needs of a section of the Indian population and make them economically more potent. For example, the availability of online e-commerce platforms to traditional artisans who can now more easily reach their customers.

Current Issues/Challenges

• Short-term solution: Statistically, a large number of start-ups do not make it big and are shut down.
• Economic issues: Closure of start-ups leads to
• loss of the capital invested in them
• loss of employment
• sets a demotivating example for those willing to take chance by establishing a business entity
• Disparities: Disparities in salary and working conditions are also known to exist in the start-up ecosystem to a large extent.
• Unregulated: The start-up sector being less regulated has also led to no minimum labour laws being applied to it.
• Exploitation: Most labourers working for start-ups are not entitled to worker’s welfare legislation and therefore face exploitation.