Goyal encourages entrepreneurs to rank India among the top 25 countries in the Global Innovation Index

As part of a futuristic roadmap for creating a self-reliant start-up and innovation ecosystem, the Centre is positioning the Open Network Digital Commerce (ONDC) as a game-changer to bring equity into the business ecosystem, with the goal of placing India among the top 25 positions in the Global Innovation Index. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade’s (DPIIT) Startup India Innovation Week, which runs from 10 to 16 January, is a major exercise in achieving the high innovation index slot by bringing together India’s leading startups, entrepreneurs, investors, funding entities, and international stakeholders to chart a path to achieve the goal.

“Indian startups as the key reason behind the country’s meteoric rise in the Global Innovation Index from 76 in 2014 to 46 in 2021,” said Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Monday, as he launched the “Startup India Innovation Week” virtually. Outlining the need for further strengthening of the innovation ecosystem by continuous review, reinvention, rejuvenation, Goyal pointed to the success of IPOs of many start-ups which show their power to become the new multi-national corporations. “Startups turned COVID-19 crises into an opportunity and made 2021 the year of unicorns with 3rd largest unicorns (82) in the world,” he added.

This year’s week-long event commemorates six years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Startup India initiative to invigorate India’s entrepreneurial spirit in January 2016. Stakeholders in the Innovation Week will focus on exchanging information about how to nurture start-up ecosystems, create capacities, and raise global and local funds for start-up investments. Other expected effects include providing market access and exhibiting India’s high-tech and low-cost technologies.

The government has acted as a “facilitator” for start-ups by introducing ease of doing business measures such as a rebate of 80% on patent filing fees and 50% on trademark filing fees, relaxation of public procurement rules, self-certification under labour and environmental laws, funds of funds for startups, income tax exemption for three out of ten years, and a Rs 945 crore seed fund scheme. In the last four years, a strengthened IPR regime has resulted in the registration of 1.16 million trademarks, compared to 1.1 million in the previous 75 years.