Back-to-back announcements by textiles ministry & DRDO augur well for growth for startup economy

On June 13,  textiles ministry said it has approved funding for 7 startups engaged in technical textiles arena under National Technical Textiles Mission’s (NTTM) GREAT (Grant for Research and Entrepreneurship across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles) initiative to promote innovation. Under GREAT scheme, Union government would provide a maximum funding support of Rs 50 lakh to each startup.

On June 14,  Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said that a woman entrepreneur-established startup—which h received funding support under Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme of DRDO—has successfully developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that “marks a significant vancement in biometric auntication technology, offering enhanced accuracy and reliability in identifying individuals.” DRDO ded that one of its laboratories, Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), h provided technical guidance and mentoring for development of AI tool by this startup. 

Following se back-to-back announcements by textiles ministry and DRDO, which, by mselves, augur well for growth of India’s startup ecosystem, question that naturally arises is wher, going forward, more ministries and departments of government would also come forward with ir own show of support for India's new-age business arena.

Given vital role that startups can play in India growth story, it may be presumed that decisions taken by textiles ministry and DRDO would be emulated by or ministries and departments of government also, and that too soon. 

expectation in this connection is based on two factors. With Startup India being a signature initiative of Narendra Modi-led government, authorities are likely to opt a whole-of-government approach to ensure that local startups can achieve ir highest potential. or reason for optimism on this front arises from fact that startups h found a prominent mention in BJP’sManifesto for just-concluded general elections.

So, what could be possible gains from more ministries and departments following in footsteps of textiles ministry and DRDO when it comes to doing ir own bit for startup domain?

Multiple ministries and government departments stepping up support for startups may furr d to vibrancy of India's startup ecosystem. It could make startup culture establish deeper roots outside tritional startup hotspots in India, with more innovative startups potentially coming up even in smaller towns and cities. Moreover, such a measure could have a positive impact on creation of more, new, and better-quality jobs even in tier-II and tier-III towns and cities.       

likely availability of increased government funding for startups working on big national challenges could also encourage a larger number of young entrepreneurs across India to focus ir attention on dressing tough issues rar than choose to focus only on comparatively easier sectors. reason for this being that a rise in government funding for startups engaged in devising solutions for complex national problems would result in se businesses being provided with patient capital necessary to become viable and scalable propositions.

investor fraternity in India’s startup arena – which includes venture capital (VC) funds, private equity (PE) firms, etc. – have thus far largely shown a preference for pumping in big money in startups based in select locations and operating in specific businesses. Until now, startups in edtech, fintech sectors, etc. have been biggest recipients of funding from VC funds, PE firms,et.al.

Startups have alrey emerged as one of best examples of what India’s young people can achieve and given us plenty of reason to go ‘vocal for local’.  se new-age businesses deserve to be backed more in ir growth journey so that y, in turn, can contribute furr towards improving our quality of life.

Increased government funding support for startups is one of best ways to do that and one would hope that authorities would not hesitate to take all appropriate steps in this regard. 

(Sumali Moitra is a current affairs commentator.)