Startups have been reshaping the landscape of the Indian industry for quite some years now, making the country one of the largest startup ecosystems in the world. At a time of sluggish job growth and continuing income disparity, this trend is, no doubt, more than welcome, but at the same time it is imperative that the government continues its efforts to push the ecosystem further for our entrepreneurs. In this light of this, a slew of measures the Centre unveiled last week, do deserve mention.

First, our startups have got a new definition. Accordingly, an entity shall now be considered a startup up to 10 years from its date of incorporation instead of the existing period of 7 years. Also, the turnover limit for startups shall be increased to Rs 100 crore from Rs 25 crore at present. Additionally, it was notified that the consideration of shares received by eligible startups for shares issued (or proposed to be issued) by all investors shall be exempt up to an aggregate limit of Rs 25 crore, as against Rs 10 crore at present. These steps are welcome.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Minister last week also launched SWAYATT, an initiative to promote startups, women and youth through e-transactions on government e-marketplace (GeM). On the same occasion, a dedicated GeM Start-up Runway – developed jointly by GeM and Start-up India – was launched to facilitate startups registered with Start-up India to access the public procurement market and sell innovative products and services to government buyers.

In yet another positive development last week, the Centre released the second edition of Startup Ranking for 2019. The new ranking framework comprises of 7 pillars and 30 action points, and states shall accordingly be assessed based on their efforts across a number of parameters, such as institutional support, simplifying regulations, easing public procurement, etc. This initiative, along with the aforesaid measures, will definitely give a fresh push to the Indian startup ecosystem.

I invite your opinions.