Govt pushing corporates to increase engagement with startups: DPIIT Secretary

New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) The government is pushing corporates to increase their engagement with startups with a view to promoting the growth of budding entrepreneurs and boosting domestic manufacturing in the country, a top official said on Wednesday.

Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Amardeep Singh Bhatia said involving startups to build products, and integrating them into supply chains would help companies reduce manufacturing costs.

Several memorandum of understandings (MoUs) have been signed by the department with companies to push them to work with startups.

"We have been pushing corporates to deepen their engagements with startups... Companies can outsource problems to startups," he told reporters here while briefing about the National Startups Day, to be celebrated on January 16 here.

He said it is a big challenge but the work is in progress.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the event.

"The Prime Minister has agreed to be part of the programme," Bhatia said.

The Startup India action plan was launched in January 2016. Under this, the government is implementing three flagship schemes, Fund of Funds for Startups, Startup India Seed Fund Scheme, and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups, to provide funding opportunities and support startups across sectors at various stages of their business cycle.

He added that a series of steps have been taken over the last 10 years to strengthen the startup ecosystem in the country.

Over 2 lakh entities have been recognised as startups by the DPIIT so far.

Recognised startups are eligible for a number of incentives, such as income tax benefits under the Startup India initiative by the department.

Measures have also been announced to promote deep-tech startups, which are engaged in deep research works to develop commercial products.

"We expect that a lot of deep-tech startups will come up," he said, adding that the DPIIT is linking R&D labs with the startup ecosystem.

The government is providing funds and "we expect that the private fundings will also come," Bhatia said. PTI RR TRB