Dear PM Modi, this is what the Indian startup community expects from ‘Startup India, Standup India’

Few more hours to the launch of the most anticipated initiative of the booming start-up industry in India, “Startup India, Standup India”. While rumours are ripe that a new roadmap would be launched at the event, start-ups are expecting a lot more than a roadmap.

“It should create a startup environment in the country with the proper structures in place,” said Anisha Singh, cofounder of mydala.

Narendra Modi has a lot to live up to tomorrow. Starting from legal compliances to changes in academic curriculum to encourage entrepreneurship, start-ups have come up with the most innovative measures which could lead to tremendous growth of the industry.

India is witnessing the rise of varied genres of start-ups, from food start-ups to tech start-ups to ecommerce to health start-ups. Here’s a look at the expectations of each sector before the D-day.

Tech start-ups

Here’s what tech start-up Cube 26’s expectations from the initiative.

1. Lower rate of interest on loans for Startups - In order to help startups sustain till the time startups are able to raise investments, the government should set a slightly lower rate of interest to promote and sustain more entrepreneurs.

2. Tax exemptions for entrepreneurs - Government should provide 1-3 years of tax and compliance holiday for startups under the ‘Start Up India’ initiative

3. Involvement of startups in Government projects - Usually the size and turnaround time of government projects is higher as compared to private companies. Also, being in a dynamic environment, it’s difficult for startups to sustain themselves after investing in government projects till the time payment turnaround happens. So, in order to provide them exposure to big projects, government should come out with flexible opportunities for startups to allow them to help with their technology or consultancy expertise in certain use cases.

4. Make in India in hardware - The hardware ecosystem in India is quite weak at the moment owing to higher prices of manufacturing and lack of skills. The government should work in tandem with manufacturers as well as institutes to develop skills on both the fronts.

Education startups

Vedantu, an online tutoring portal expects.

“Ed-Tech sector holds huge promise to personalize and democratize education. It would be very encouraging for entrepreneurs in the Ed-Tech and the larger education space to get additional support given that it’s a critical sector for our long-term economic growth, social progress and if India has to reap the demographic dividend. Special funding provisions within the start-up fund pool created by the government and incentives for entrepreneurs keen to enter this sector would go a long way,” said Vamsi Krishna, CEO & Co-founder, Vedantu.

“Visibility into the roadmap of rolling out of digital initiatives with faster implementation cycles will bring predictability and help Ed-Tech startups plan and scale better. LIVE online Learning on mobile devices would act as the gateway to unlimited knowledge and learning wherein teachers from top cities would be able to deliver LIVE Lectures to students in remote villages and guide them to do better. Access to top quality global content would truly present equal opportunity of learning,” he added.

Some niche startups

Ankita Tandon, Chief Operating Officer, CouponDunia said, “Through the 'Start Up India, Stand Up India' initiative, we expect our government to simplify all these processes and make it easier for the start-up community to not only set up but also scale up their business. Our Government should also encourage micro-entrepreneurship by investing and dedicating an exclusive fund for entrepreneurs apart from the one’s provided by the VCs and angel investors. Furthermore, the government should address the challenges faced by start-up companies and set up proper compliance and redressal forums for addressing these issues. Any start is a good start.”

Styletag founder, Sanjay Shroff wants specialised options for niche start-ups.

News App startup

Deepit Purkayastha, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Inshorts talks about his expectations.

1. Take measures for building a vibrant Students Entrepreneurship ecosystem - Government should work towards building a vibrant startup ecosystem in colleges. This could be done by firstly including Entrepreneurship as a course at School level, secondly designing core and optional curriculums on Entrepreneurship at College level, thirdly by providing Students the liberty to be able to startup in college and complete their degrees later if requested (nothing will make students more employable than having started their own venture) and finally, by enhancing the startup-academia interaction across the board in technical as well as non-technical universities.

2. Include more contemporary and startups relevant skills in the college curriculum - A lot of new skills which Startups need in prospective recruits viz. Product Management, App Development, Content Marketing, UI/UX Management etc are not being imparted in the formal education system. The government should work towards either inclusion of these modules in the current educational curriculum or make it easier for private players to impart these modules as complimentary courses with the existing degrees. If we need India to become a Startup nation, we need resources that are employable and productive for startups right after college.

Tourism startup

RoomsTonite CPO, Karthick highlights some key measures which he would like to see being introduced tomorrow.

1. Government should allocate at least $500mn every six months.

2. Measures should be taken to develop the infrastructure.

3. I would really appreciate it if there’s a Ministry of start-ups.

Personal assistant startup

Suman Howlader, CEO and Founder of Carzippi wants a central unified policy framework across India for budding entrepreneurs.

Real Estate startup

Zenify cofounder, Sudarshan wants an environment where there are good mentors to mentor.

Fashion startup

Mirraw said as part of the initiative, Government should look into easing the process of starting a business by making the entire process technology based.

Health startup

“We believe that, in order to encourage young blood to join the entrepreneurship bandwagon, all the government needs to do is, take steps to boost the confidence by improving faith in the system. This can be achieved mainly through transparent legal processes in the form of a checklist that an entrepreneur needs to follow in order to setup and start making money. Of course, it is very important that the costs involved for the same should be such that the poor in the country can afford. Even if the government managed to encourage youngsters to start a business, it becomes equally important to support them grow, for which, a "simple to follow" and “affordable" tax regime would make a huge difference,” said Anurav Rane - CEO of PlanMyMedicalTrip.com.

Logistics startup

Brijesh Agrawal, Founder & CEO, Tolexo.com wants the following:

1. The govt. establishes conducive & clear policy frameworks

2. Open up government projects for participation by Startups

3. Build Startup Hubs / Cities - having infrastructure that helps innovate, attract global talent

Will Modi address all these? We will see it tomorrow.

(Image credits: indiatimes)