How Madhya Pradesh supports India’s aspirations of becoming global startup hub

As they say, change is the only constant – but in modern times – what is even more important is the pace of this change. The pace of change, which is accelerated by a surge in innovation, technology, and the presence of start-ups, is foundational to make an investment destination favourable. The ambition, aspiration, and resilience of 1.

35 billion people solving for 7. 8 billion global users – is today writing the story of a surging India. We have entered the global era of Indian Startups where the big Indian industries are believing and investing in the Indian Startups.

These investments reflect the promise of Indian startups and India. Indian Startup EcosystemThe Indian Startup ecosystem is fuelled by innovation, enthusiasm, and entrepreneurial spirit. India’s booming Startup landscape has evolved in the last five years to become the 3rd largest in the world with over 69,000 DPIIT-recognized startups from all 36 States & UTs in 647 districts, spanning 56 industries.

In 2021 alone, we had over 20,000 startups recognised. As of 6th May 2022, India is home to a total of 100 unicorns with a total valuation of $333 billion. Around 79 per cent of Indian unicorns with a female founder were incorporated after 2011[2].

In a short span of time, India has shown a great appetite for advanced technology, data, and the internet. The internet paved the way for thousands of startups to rise over the past decade, address unique problems, transform entire industries, and create new segments. The number of startups recognised today stands at 69,000+, which is a testament to the growing movement.

A massive number of around 7+ lakh jobs have been created by the Indian Startup ecosystem. The fact that 49 per cent of our startups are from Tier II & Tier III, validating the tremendous potential of the country’s youth. India’s innovation landscape has also undergone a remarkable transformation in the past few years where India has improved its ranking in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2021 to 46th place among 132 economies, (up from 48 in the previous year’s ranking and India ranks 1st in central and southern Asia).

Amid this great wave of innovation, the Government of India is working on a blueprint for India@2047, a vision plan to make the country one of the world’s top three economies by the 100th year of its independence and boost to startup ecosystem will have a pivotal role to play across the identified focus area of this vision. The scenario in Madhya PradeshA state known for diamonds, traditional businesses, and industries and agriculture, Madhya Pradesh is now an emerging startup hub of the nation. Start-ups’ ecosystem in Madhya Pradesh has now evolved and emerged in an unprecedented way in the last couple of years.

There are now more than 32 incubators including six incubators supported under the smart city mission in Bhopal, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Indore, Sagar, Satna and 1,900+ DPIIT registered startups from the state. There has been tremendous growth in the startup ecosystem of Madhya Pradesh which can be witnessed through the rise in the number of startups between 2016 to 2022. Even in a troubled time of the pandemic, there is tremendous growth in the number of startups in Madhya Pradesh.

This has been possible due to tremendous efforts and great collaboration put in by state government departments, public and private academia, local industries including efforts of a dedicated state government nodal department for startups -– Department of MSME. There are many success stories coming out from the Madhya Pradesh startup ecosystem. Some of the promising startups in the state include ShopKirana, Gramophone, etc.

While we understand that funding and mentorship opportunities in the state have been few, the situation is gradually changing now with the entry of incubators and startups can now reach out to mentors from across the world through different institutional support. The saturation in the startup space in Tier 1 cities also seems to have fuelled the inflow of investors and mentors towards Tier 2 cities like Bhopal and Indore, Gwalior Jabalpur, etc. Madhya Pradesh’s New StartUp Policy – a new beginningThere is no doubt that the growth of entrepreneurship in the state has been aided by pragmatic and prudent policies and infrastructure investments.

In February 2022, the Madhya Pradesh Startup Policy was approved by the Madhya Pradesh cabinet, and it was virtually launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Madhya Pradesh Startup Conclave 2022 on 13 May at Indore. Madhya Pradesh Startup Policy and Implementation scheme 2022 is completely aligned with the prime minister and chief minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Atmanirbhar Madhya Pradesh respectively. The new Startup Policy completely aligns with the prime minister’s vision, which he laid out on 15 January 2022:“First, to liberate entrepreneurship and innovation from the web of government processes and bureaucratic silos; second, to create an institutional mechanism to promote innovation; and third to handhold young innovators and youth enterprises!”All the above points are being addressed in the newly implemented policy and scheme through the establishment of the MP Startup Centre and MP Startup Portal.

Enabling Innovation and Entrepreneurship EcosystemMP Startup Centre: The state government is making a dedicated effort to help create an enabling atmosphere for startups in the state. The centre is getting established under the aegis of the Department of MSME, Government of Madhya Pradesh. The centre will act as a dedicated agency for promoting, strengthening, and facilitating the Startup ecosystem in the state.

MP Startup portal: It is now very important to bring startups on single platform and support them. With this vision, MP Startup portal is developed. The portal was virtually launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13 May 2022 at the MP Startup Conclave.

All the stakeholders related to the startups are being onboarded on the portal. These will be as follows: Start-ups, Incubators, Mentors, Investors, Startup partners, state government departments and MP Startup Centre. Other elements of the Startup policy include State-level Innovation Challenge that will be accessed through the portal itself.

Key financial assistance under MP Startup Policy are as follows:A maximum of Rs 15 lakh will be given at the rate of 15 per cent per investment. (On receipt of investment from SEBI or RBI recognized financial institution)Additional 20 per cent assistance to startups set up by women. Maximum assistance of Rs 5 lakh for a patent (for startups established in state)Lease rental reimbursement of 50 per cent, maximum up to Rs 5,000 per startup per month, for a period of three years.

Special financial assistance and support for product-based Start-upsThe assistance of reimbursement of expenditure for skill development and training provided to a maximum of 25 employees per new employee Rs 13,000/year for three years. The assistance of Rs 5,000 per employee per month provided as employment generation assistance, for a period of three years, for 25 employees. Exemption of electricity duty for three years from the date of connection.

For new electricity connection, rates will be fixed at Rs 5/unit for three years. Financial under the State Innovation ChallengeGrant up to Rs 1 crore per startup will be provided to startups solving socio-economic problems posed by selected state government departmentsMadhya Pradesh aims to create an enabling ecosystem for startups with these policy initiatives. While many cities will emerge as champions, Indore with its i-hub will become the startup capital of the country.

It will be the startups of the country who will make the prime minister’s vision of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2025 and the third-largest economy in the world come true. The author is IAS, Secretary, Department of MSMEs and Commissioner, Industries, Government of Madhya Pradesh. Views are personal.

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