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Startup Village welcomes Union Budget 2015

Startup Village hailed the proposals in the Union Budget 2015 to set aside Rs 1,000 crore for setting up a Self Employment and Talent Utilization programme.

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Preeti Gaur
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KOCHI: Startup Village, India’s first PPP model technology business incubator, hailed the proposals in the Union Budget 2015 to set aside Rs 1,000 crore for setting up a Self Employment and Talent Utilization (SETU) programme, saying it would give a fillip to incubation of start-ups, especially in the technology sector.

Startup Village Chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar said that financial allocations for SETU and Rs 150 crore for Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) would increase budgetary flow to incubators and seed funds for start-ups.

The main objective of Atal Innovation Mission aims is to create world class innovation labs, and further accelerate job creation in the software sector.

“These announcements are significant as availability of funds has been a major stumbling block for early stage start-ups. It will have a positive impact on fostering a culture of entrepreneurship,” he said.

He further added that this policy would create a clear mechanism to address business failures, which is one of the key challenges that the start-ups in the IT-internet-telecom sector face. The proposal to introduce a uniform bankruptcy code would encourage youngsters to take up entrepreneurship.

The proposal to incentivize debit/credit card transactions would give a stimulus to the Internet and mobile app-based start-ups, Startup Village CEO Pranav Kumar Suresh said.

“More importantly, the Startup Village Angel Fund will now be open for global investors with the new changes announced with regard to SEBI-registered angel funds,” he said.

Another proposal in the Budget is to allow foreign investment in alternative investment funds (AIFs), a move that could aid growth of start-ups which often face hiccups in raising working capital.

Mr Pranav noted that start-ups with DST and Government of India- approved incubators in the country are already enjoying exemption from service tax. The proposal to increase service tax will make the start-ups in government-approved incubators 14 per cent more competitive than other companies.

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