The government has so far extended tax benefits to 67 start-ups with a view to promoting budding entrepreneurs in the country, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry CR Chaudhary said here on Tuesday.

In January 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had unveiled a slew of incentives to boost the start-up ecosystem, offering them a tax holiday and inspector raj-free regime for three years, capital gains tax exemption, and ₹10,000 crore corpus to fund them.

“3,576 start-ups have been recognised as on September 7 and tax benefits have been given to 67 innovative start-ups,” Chaudhary said while addressing the Start-up India States conference.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under the ministry, had considered 671 start-ups for income tax exemption.

The minister also assured full support and facilitation from both the Centre and State governments.

“We are here to support you. Whenever you need any assistance or help, we are there for that,” he added.

The minister asked young entrepreneurs to work in areas such as agriculture, health, biotechnology and animal husbandry.

Speaking at the conference, DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said 15 States have formulated their start-up policies and are facilitating young businesses through them.

“States are important partners in this exercise,” he said, adding start-ups need support in areas such as infrastructure, funding and marketing.

He informed that ₹1,587 crore worth funds have been given to start-ups; intellectual property related benefits have been extended to 639.

The DIPP is in the process of setting up a ₹2,000-crore credit guarantee fund and for that “we are about to go to the Cabinet soon.”

This corpus will provide funding facilities to start-ups. Under this, ₹2,000 crore will be disbursed over a period of three years.

Related Topics