The number of enterprises registered as startups under the Startup India programme has jumped to 1.61 lakh as of January 31, 2025, according to the data shared by Jitin Prasada, Minister of State in the Commerce Ministry. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Prasada said the startups registered so far have reportedly created over 17.69 lakh direct jobs including over 14.11 lakh direct jobs created in the last five years.
Maharashtra led the tally with 28,511 registered startups followed by 16,954 startups registered in Karnataka and 16,356 in Delhi. In terms of job creation as well, Maharashtra had the highest count of 3.17 lakh employment so far in comparison to 1.96 lakh jobs reported by startups in Delhi and 1.95 lakh in Karnataka.
The Startup India programme, launched in January 2016, offers startups a slew of benefits around funding, tax exemption, patent filing, public procurement, winding up and more. Eligible startups should be operational for not more than 10 years and incorporated as a private limited company or a registered partnership firm or a limited liability partnership. Moreover, the startup’s annual turnover should not exceed Rs 100 crore for any of the financial years since its incorporation.
Out of the total incorporated startups under the Startup India programme, a number of them have also shut shop. According to the data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, 5,063 startups — 3.3 per cent of the 1.52 lakh registered startups as of December 10, 2024 — were categorised as closed, that is, dissolved or struck-off.
State-wise, Maharashtra recorded the highest count of closed startups with 929 entities shut followed by 644 in Karnataka, 593 in Delhi, 487 in Uttar Pradesh, 301 in Telangana, and more.
However, to boost startup creation, the government is working on a new not-for-profit company that would lead both the government and private-sector initiatives in the startup space, FE had reported earlier.
The proposed company for startups is expected to on the lines of Invest India – country’s investment promotion and facilitation agency – which is run entirely on public-private partnership with a board dominated by the industry representatives.