The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had recognised 28,979 start-ups as of March 1, 2020, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated in a written reply to Lok Sabha today. 38 start-ups were in fact de-recognised by DPIIT between February 26 and March 1, comparison with figures disclosed by Goyal on March 4 reveals. The Startup India Initiative was launched on January 16, 2016.

As per figures revealed today, Maharashtra has the most number of recognised start-ups — 5,477 — followed by Karnataka (4,206), Delhi (3,740), Uttar Pradesh (2,342) and Haryana (1,635). With just 1 start-up, Lakshadweep Islands have the least number of recognised start-ups.

Of the 28 states and 8 UTs currently recognised, only 2 states — Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram — and 4 UTs — Delhi, Chandigarh, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli — do not have their own start-up policies. Ladakh, which became a UT only after the abrogation of Article 370, is not recognised in the list.

  • 17 start-ups were recognised in Tamil Nadu between February 26 and March 1, 2020, according to details revealed in Lok Sabha on March 4.
  • 23 start-ups were recognised in Assam between November 2019 and March 2020, according to figures revealed by Goyal in Lok Sabha in November 2019.

The Startup Ranking Framework for states and UTs was introduced on February 6, 2018 and announced on December 20, 2018. Gujarat was adjudged to be the “best performer”.

Funding start-ups

The Indian government had set up a Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) in June 2016 with a corpus of ₹10,000 crore which will be provided over 14th and 15th Finance Commission cycles, that is, until 2025. It is monitored by DPIIT and operated by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). FFS doesn’t invest in start-ups directly, but through SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) that invest in equity and equity-linked instruments.

As of February 18, 2020, SIDBI had committed ₹3,123.2 crore to 47 SEBI-registered AIFs. AIFs themselves have raised ₹25,728 crore. The AIFs have invested ₹3,378.47 crore into 320 start-ups. Of this, ₹912.91 crore were drawn from FFS via the funds committed by SIDBI. Goyal revealed these details today in a reply to another question raised in Lok Sabha.