- The BJP’s manifesto promises a seed startup fund of ₹200 billion.
- However, as of December 2018, the government’s ₹100 billion startup fund-of-funds had disbursed only 19% of the amount.
- Currently, only 182 startups have been funded by the government.
India’s ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party released its election manifesto which promises to build a ‘New India of 130 crore dreams” also made way for a new Seed Startup Fund of ₹200 billion.
However, its startup
fund of funds of ₹100 billion is grossly underutilized. According to a report in TOI, as of December 2018, VCs had
allocated only 19% of the ₹10,000 crore funds. The report had further quoted Mohammad Mustafa, chairman and managing director of SIDBI had said that the fund-of-funds would close the financial year at ₹3,300 crores.
The current number of funded startups today stands at 182, according to the official Startup India website. The government had said that the ₹10,000 crore fund would be released in two tranches until 2025.
According to the new election Manifesto, the BJP has also promised a new scheme to provide collateral-free credit up to ₹50 lakh for entrepreneurs. The manifesto also says that 50% of the loan amount will be reserved for women entrepreneurs.
The party wants to establish 50,000 new startups by 2024 along with 500 new incubators and accelerators.
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