India’s Industry Minister wants a new nodal agency for startups

• Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal came up with the idea of having a nodal agency.
• The agency will then act as a body for startups where founders can raise tickets regarding issues.
• Goyal had also recently said that India is on track to have 50,000 DPIIT registered startups. Currently, there are 23,252 registered startups.

The Indian government is planning to set up a single nodal agency for startups to raise their issues and concerns.

“In a meeting with TiE Delhi NCR charter members, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal himself came up with the idea,” said Deep Kalra, the Founder and Chairman of MakeMyTrip, who was also present in the meeting.

“We went to him with our laundry list, shared our reports. He asked us to give him some “audacious” suggestions, and we said we will come back with suggestions. Then he said why don’t we have a nodal agency for all startups,” Kalra told Business Insider.

Goyal had also recently said that India is on track to have 50,000 DPIIT registered startups. Currently, there are 23,252 registered startups.

The agency will then act as a body for startups where founders can raise tickets regarding issues.

For long now, the ‘angel’ tax had been one of the pressing concerns of the Indian startup community. The law therin mandated that angel investments should be treated as “income from other sources” if the startup issues shares at a price that exceeds the fair market value of the shares.

The government has offered some relief but there are many concerns beyond taxation. Startups are often at the burning end of bureaucratic decisions and, often, have to deal with tedious legal processes.

“I see startups really hurting. As a young startup, you don’t want to be dealing with policy and government. So, a nodal agency could be very exciting. Just physical incubators from the government won’t cut it. We have to figure out why certain incubators have succeeded and go beyond seed funds,” said Kalra.

See Also:
No Angel Tax for startups registered with DPIIT, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
Budget 2019: Declarations can save Indian startups from angel tax scrutiny