Startups know Bangalore is where their heart is!

Bengaluru, the startup capital of India, is likely to remain so because of the startup-friendly environment that the Karnataka government is willing to provide to entrepreneurs. The incentives that have been lined up include tax breaks, access to cash and regulatory free passes.

"Our startup policy focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship development. The government wants to further build on the edge Bengaluru has in fostering startups, and replicate the success in other districts too," Karnataka IT Minister SR Patil told ET. Patil also added that the startup policy is looking forward to raise Rs 2,000 crore for startups, and this would be done solely through government intervention.

However, Karnataka is not the first state to have announced a policy for startups. Kerala released its policy in 2014 and Rajasthan has also announced its support for ventures. Even the central government would be announcing a national startup policy next month.

According to reports, India would have some 11,500 startups by 2020, and Bengaluru would be a leading name in that.

As per the Karnataka startup policy, the eligibility for benefits would be defined for those ventures that create technology products or services, are under four years old and employ half of its total qualified workforce in Karnataka. These companies will receive reimbursements on service tax, VAT/CST, marketing incentives (30 per cent of the costs including travel to international trade shows) and patent filing costs amongst others. When the startup would reach Rs 50 crore of revenue, it would stop receiving these benefits.

Under the policy, a startup cell would be made with a hotline and a portal, which would be a single-point of information related to investors, policies, regulations, patent matters and more would also be setup.

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