DPIIT wants one-third beneficiaries of Startup India are women; to hold interactions of entrepreneurs with VC funds, banks

New Delhi: The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will take steps to ensure that at least one-third of the beneficiaries of Startup India programme are women, a top government official said on Thursday. The department’s secretary, Ramesh Abhishek, said that they would organise interactions of women entrepreneurs with venture capital funds and banks to ease access to equity and debt. “We will ensure that at least one-third of beneficiaries of Startup India are women. Also, other departments/states will be encouraged to do the same,” he said in a series of tweets. [caption id=“attachment_2850094” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. ThinkStock[/caption] The department, which is implementing the Startup India programme, has announced specific decisions, such as earmarking Rs 1,000 crore out of fund of funds for women-led/centric startups, to support entrepreneurship among women. He also said that online and offline courses and programmes will be designed and implemented for capacity development of women entrepreneurs. Their legal, tax and financial advisory needs will be facilitated by connecting them to suitable service providers, Abhishek added. The Startup India is the flagship initiative of the government, launched in January 2016, intended to build a strong ecosystem for the growth of start-up businesses, to drive sustainable economic growth and generate employment opportunities. The Startup India action plan provides tax and other incentives including income tax exemption. So far, as many as 18,813 startups have been recognised by the department. They can apply for availing incentives.