In a bid to boost entrepreneurship in the country, the Centre, in 2016, launched the ‘Startup India’ scheme which has now witnessed a 57 per cent growth in the number of government-recognized startups.

According to Financial Express, the Startup India portal has revealed that from around 24,927 companies recognized as startups in November last year by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the number has jumped to 39,114 startups as of November 3, 2020.

The department in its vision document, last year, had stated that it was eyeing for as many as 50,000 new startups along with 20 lakh direct and indirect jobs by 2024. It also mentioned the provision for 500 new incubators and accelerators, 100 innovation zones in urban local bodies, and seven research parks to help the startups grow.

Allocation of 10,000 crores funds of funds along with increasing CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funding to the incubators was also suggested by DPIIT, not only this but an India Startup Fund of Rs 1,000 crore for technology startups and another Rs 1,000 crore in seed funding to startups was also put forward by the department.

The increase in government recognized startup companies have boosted the entrepreneurship scenario in India and has become a vital component but identification of the contribution by these enterprises have witnessed a backseat during the pandemic.

‘No data on contribution to GDP by startups is maintained by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade,’ Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha in September this year.

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