Top 10 Government Schemes that are adding wings to ideas of entrepreneurs

“We have a million problems, but at the same time, we have over a billion minds. I see startups, technology and innovation as exciting and effective instruments for India’s transformation.” – Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. 

Many new measures have been initiated by the government to support startups, including broadening startups, simplifying regulations and providing income tax exemptions. The sole motive behind the various schemes by the government is to transform India into a country of Job Creators instead of Job Seekers.

Start-up India

Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, intended to build a strong eco-system for nurturing innovation and Startups in the country that will drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities. The campaign was first announced by Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi during his speech on 15 August 2015. 

The Government through this initiative aims to empower Startups to grow through innovation and design.  In order to meet the objectives of the initiative, the Government of India is announcing this Action Plan that addresses all aspects of the Startup ecosystem. With this Action Plan, the Government hopes to accelerate the spreading of the Startup movement.

MUDRA

Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. [MUDRA] is an NBFC supporting development of the micro-enterprise sector in the country. Recognizing the potential of Indian startups, the government in 2015 announced the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. 

MUDRA provides refinance support to Banks/ MFIs for lending to micro units having loan requirements up to 10 lakh. MUDRA provides refinance to micro businesses under the Scheme of Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana. The other products are for development support to the sector. The bouquet of offerings of MUDRA is depicted below. The offerings are being targeted across the spectrum of beneficiary segments.

ATAL Innovation Mission

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog is the Government of India's flagship initiative set up in 2016. AIM’s objective is to develop new programmes and policies for fostering innovation in different sectors of the economy, provide platforms and collaboration opportunities for different stakeholders, and create an umbrella structure to oversee the innovation & entrepreneurship ecosystem of the country. 

AIM’s initiatives have played an important contributory role in the advancement of India from a position of 81 in the Global Innovation Index in 2015 to a position of 48 in 2020.

ASPIRE

The ASPIRE scheme was launched by the Hon'ble Minister of MSME on 16th March 2015. ASPIRE- was launched to set up a network of technology centres and to set up incubation centres to accelerate entrepreneurship and also to promote startups for innovation in the agro-industry. 

The main objectives of the scheme are to create new jobs, reduce unemployment, promote entrepreneurship culture in India, grassroots economic development at the district level and facilitate innovative business solutions for unmet social needs.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is developed to coordinate all efforts for skill development across the country, bridge the gap between demand and supply of skilled manpower, create vocational and technical training infrastructure, upgrade skills, not only for existing jobs but also for the created ones. 

It is a Ministry of Government of India set up on 9 November 2014 to coordinate all skill development efforts across the country. The ministry is headed by Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey, presently. The objective of the Ministry is to be skilled at large scale with speed and high standards to achieve the vision of 'Skilled India'. 

Support for International Patent Protection in Electronics & Information Technology (SIP-EIT)

SIP-EIT is a scheme initiated by DeitY for providing financial support to startups and MSMEs to strengthen their competitiveness through innovation and its protection. It provides financial support to MSMEs and Technology Startup units for international patent filing to encourage innovation and recognize the value and capabilities of global IP along with capturing growth opportunities in ICTE sector.

Multiplier Grants Scheme (MGS)

The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) is implementing the Multiplier Grants Scheme (MGS). MGS aims to encourage collaborative R&D between industry and academics/ R&D institutions for the development of products and packages. 

Under the scheme, if the industry supports R&D for the development of products that can be commercialized at the institution level, then the government will also provide financial support that is up to twice the amount provided by the industry. The proposals for getting financial support under the scheme are to be submitted jointly by the industry and institutions.

Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE)

The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, GoI and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), established a Trust named Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) to implement the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises.

It was launched to make available collateral-free credit to the micro and small enterprise sector. The scheme was formally launched on August 30, 2000 and is operational with effect from 1st January 2000. Both the existing and the new enterprises are eligible to be covered under the scheme. 

Software Technology Park

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is a premier S&T organization under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) engaged in promoting the IT/ITES Industry, innovation, R&D, start-ups, product/IP creation in the field of emerging technologies.

Till date, STPI has launched 13 Centres of Excellence (CoEs). Since its inception in 1991, STPI has been working towards equitable and inclusive IT-led growth pan-India which in turn has helped promote Software exports, Science, Technology & Innovation (STI) and Software product development. 

STPI is aspiring to become the largest technology startup ecosystem in the country and has been endeavouring to transform the country into a software product nation as envisaged in National Policy on Software Products (NPSP) 2019. 

NewGen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (NewGen IEDC) 

The NewGen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (NewGen IEDC) is being promoted in educational institutions to develop institutional mechanisms to create entrepreneurial culture in S&T academic institutions and to foster techno-entrepreneurship for the generation of wealth and employment by S&T persons.

The NewGen IEDCs are established in academic institutions (science colleges, engineering colleges, universities, management institutes) having requisite expertise and infrastructure. The Mission of NewGen IEDC is to promote knowledge-based and technology-driven startups by harnessing the minds of the youth and their potential for innovation in an academic environment.