As many as 75,000 start-ups have been recognised by the government and about 49% of them are from the tier-II and tier-III cities, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.
Also Read | Punjab can be the next startup hub: IMPunjab Chairman Pramod Bhasin
“These numbers tell the power of a vision. A vision to see innovation & enterprise drive growth. India is now home to 75,000 start-ups in the 75th year of Independence and this is only the beginning,” Goyal said in a tweet on Wednesday.
According to the data compiled by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), about 12% of the start-ups belong to the IT services, 9% to healthcare and life sciences, 7% to education, 5% to professional and commercial services and 5% to agriculture.
About 7,46,000 jobs have been created by the start-up ecosystem, having recorded a 110% annual increase over the last six years.
Also Read | ‘Ban on single-use plastic choking SMEs; effective implementation, alternatives crucial’
While the initial ten thousand start-ups were recognised in 808 days, the latest ten thousand were achieved in only 156 days. With more than 80 start-ups getting recognised per day, the highest rate in the world, the future of the start-up culture is “very promising and encouraging”, according to an official statement.
The Start-up India programme, launched in January 2016, was rolled out to provide an enabling environment for budding entrepreneurs to flourish. Through the programme, the government provides tax incentives to eligible start-ups and support them intellectual property rights and public procurement. Several rules have been eased, especially in labour and environment, to help them start operations.
However, while several start-ups have created much-needed employment, some of them have recently shed jobs, too. Vedantu, Unacademy and Cars24 have reportedly laid off over 6,000 employees this year. Similarly, Ola reportedly fired about 2,100 employees earlier this year.
