Page 22 - Mann Ki Baat English

of innovation. The initiative’s to enhance the quality of
focus on providing a conducive mentorship and operational
environment — through tax efficiency. Furthermore, private
exemptions, such as the three- infrastructure has expanded
year income tax holiday under alongside public efforts;
Section 80-IAC, and the removal Maharashtra alone reported over
of the ‘Angel Tax’—has allowed 1,700 private incubators active
startups to scale rapidly. These during the assessment period.
ventures have collectively Funding and Financial
generated over 12.42 lakh direct Mechanisms
jobs as of late 2024, with a To address the critical
significant contribution from ‘funding gap,’ the government
women-led startups, which now operationalised the Fund of
account for 48 per cent of all Funds for Startups (FFS) and the
recognised entities. Startup India Seed Fund Scheme.
Incubation Hubs and These initiatives were designed
Infrastructure to provide capital at various
A critical component of this stages of development, from
decade-long success has been ideation to late-stage scaling.
the development of physical The 5th edition of the ranking
and digital infrastructure. The report indicates that over 870
government prioritised the startups have been connected
creation of incubation centers with investors through various
linked to R&D laboratories and state-led programs. Additionally,
tinkering labs in schools to foster states have introduced
innovation from a young age. dedicated funds—including
By the 5th edition of the States' seed, venture, and state-level
Startup Ranking, thousands Fund of Funds—to ensure that
of startups had received capital is accessible beyond the
direct incubation support. For major financial centers.
instance, states like Tamil Nadu The Road Ahead: Viksit
and Gujarat have trained over Bharat @2047
200 and 300 state-sponsored As the first decade of Startup
incubators respectively India concludes, the focus is

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