The government on Wednesday told the Parliament that it has no data on the number of startups and small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that were shut down during the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

It further added that there were no records of startups’ contribution to the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product), according to Business Today.

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

He added the agency has not maintained any data regarding the number of startups that have shut operation due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the startups that are still operating.

However, the minister shared the data around the number of jobs created by startups in response to the question on job generation by startups.

According to the available estimates, the number of jobs reported by DPIIT recognised startups (37,385 companies under the Startup India programme) increased from 49,648 in 2017 to 95,338 in 2018 and 1,54,558 in 2019.

As of September 6, 2020, 4,22,986 jobs were reported by 34,267 startups with Maharashtra (80,714 jobs), Karnataka (71,533 jobs), Delhi (49,497 jobs), UP (33,803 jobs), and Haryana (29,770 jobs) were on top in job creation among other states.

India nurtures the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem and is home to over 50,000 startups with 31 unicorns. Despite being one of the significant contributors to boost jobs, investment and technological advancements, their contribution to the country’s GDP is yet to be ascertained and recorded by the government.

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