India announces the states' startup ranking list – Gujarat gets the best performer, while Karnataka and Kerala are top performers

• The Modi government had started the startup rankings to encourage states to have an entrepreneurially conducive environment.
• While Gujarat took the Best Performer ranking, Karnataka and Kerala got the top performers' titles.
• 22 states and 3 Union Territories participated in the exercise.

The Indian government has announced the second edition of its state startup ranking. The Modi government had started the startup rankings to encourage states to have an entrepreneurially conducive environment. The idea behind the exercise is to build capacities at the state level to support innovation and entrepreneurship.

Here is the 2019 startup ranking list

Emerging Startup Ecosystems	Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Nagaland, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Assam
Aspiring Leaders	Punjab, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Haryana
Leaders	Maharashtra, Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan, Chandigarh
Top Performers	Karnataka and Kerala
Best Performers	Andaman and Nicobar Islands (among UTs and north eastern states) Gujarat (among all other states)

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal applauded the states for their initiatives and India’s startups. He also shared three recommendations for startups:

• Product – Startups should focus on how we can reimagine new products, how products can be used, what is relevant in today’s day and age.
• Processes - Startups should look at how we can constantly redesign and reengineer the processes of doing the same thing.
• People - Ultimately we need people-centric ideas, the consumer at the centre point of all new ideas of the startup ecosystem.

22 states and 3 Union Territories participated in the exercise. Along with the rankings, the government also released a report on how the states can further work on improving innovation in the region.

The startup rankings were done by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). And the states were awarded points according to performances across seven categories – Institutional Support, Easing Compliances, Relaxation in Public Procurement norms, Incubation support, Seed Funding Support, Venture Funding Support, and Awareness & Outreach.

India is home to over 50,000 startups with over 30 unicorns. India has about 9,300 tech startups alone, while 1,600 are deep tech startups. It also has 335 incubators and accelerators. According to the Nasscom-Zinnov report Indian Tech Start-up Ecosystem, India will see 100 unicorns by 2025 and will create over 1.1 million direct jobs.

Currently, 36,614 startups are recognized by DPIIT.

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