Start up industry should focus on rural India: Goyal

Startups must focus more on devising solutions to problems faced by rural India, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday at the third meeting of the National Startup Advisory Council.

Startups created 590,000 jobs between 2018 and 2021, he said, adding that the new-age firms have the potential to catalyse India’s integration in global value chains and help increase the footprint in global markets. Therefore, startup founders must have greater focus on nurturing entrepreneurship in tier-1 and 2 cities, Goyal added.

Startups must “explore unexplored areas such as rural tourism like agri-stays, hotels and homestays that would help create additional income for farmers.” he said. “Successful startups must focus on the rural economy and work on solutions like drip irrigation and natural farming to improve the lives of farmers.”

He said the government as an enabler was committed to develop a robust startup ecosystem by providing exceptional benefits, such as 80% rebate in patent filing and 50% on trademark filing, relaxation in public procurement norms, and self-certification under labour and environment laws.

He said the Centre has extended other sops such as a ₹10,000 crore startup fund, income tax exemption for up to three out of 10 years, seed fund scheme of ₹945 crore for creating an open network for e-commerce, which will create new opportunities and remove monopoly in key sectors.