Commerce Ministry launches tools to rank states, UTs on startup ecosystem

On February 6, 2017, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Suresh Prabhu launched three tools – States and Union Territory Startup Ranking Framework, Compendium of Good Practices for Promoting Startups in India and the Startup India Kit – for ranking States and Union Territories (UTs) on startup ecosystem.

States and Union Territory Startup Ranking Framework:

Main objective of this tool is to encourage States and UTs to take proactive steps for strengthening the Startup ecosystems at the local level.

• Impact of each step initiated at the local level for building a strong Startup ecosystem will be measured under this framework.
• This framework has been developed on basis of the feedback collected from Startup ecosystem stakeholders’ viz. startup mentors, investors, incubators and accelerators.
• Steps taken for facilitating/promoting Seed funding and women entrepreneurship have been accorded higher weightage.
• Feedback on actions and initiatives undertaken by states/UTs has been taken into consideration. The actions and initiatives include having a startup cell, helpline, mobile or web portal for queries, size of the startup mentor network created by local government and the number of incubators.
• Ranking Framework will be launched through the Startup India Hub portal.

Compendium of Good Practices for Promoting Startups in India:

The compendium focuses on enriching the Startup ecosystem through ethical behaviours.

• Practices enlisted in the compendium are already being followed by 18 States and UTs.
• The compendium covers 95 good practises placed under 7 broad areas of intervention – Incubation Support, Angel & Venture Funding, Awareness & Outreach, Seed Funding, Startup Policy & Implementation, Easing Public Procurement and Simplified Regulations. 
• The practices have been further crystallised into 38 action points.

Startup India Kit:

This kit will serve as a one-stop guide on all Startup India offerings.

• The kit contains vital information, statistics, advice and assistance through website links, tools, events, competitions, templates and a glossary of startup terms.
• The kit enlists all benefits available to startups through Startup India initiative.

Quick Facts about Startup India Initiative:

• Launched in – January 2016
• Administered by – Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry
• In context of this news, it is important to note that India is home to about 20000 startups and about 1400 startups are beginning operations every year.