Startup India Policy 2016: Pre, Post and Way Forward

Abstract

The government of India has launched its flagship initiative – ‘Startup India Policy 2016' to create a globally competitive startup ecosystem. Since its implementation, it is noted that there are significant changes in the Indian startup paradigm. Over the years, various government and private reports have been published about the efficiency of the policy. But the number of literatures focussing on the different functional aspects of the policy is somewhat limited comparing to the scope of the policy. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the pre- and post-scenario of the Indian Startup ecosystem after implementing the Startup India policy 2016. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the policy on various aspects of the Indian startup ecosystem and reveal the shortcomings of it. The study relied on secondary data sources pertaining to various aspects of the Indian startup ecosystem. The analysis has been conducted by comparing pre- and post-data across six key factors of the ecosystem. The study found that the 'Startup India Policy 2016' initiative has been proved to be a successful maneuver which is visible in the accelerating trend in terms of number of startups recognized by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) including 107 unicorn startups in India. The increasing number of Unicorn startups along with India’s improvement in ease of doing business ranking suggests the positive impact of this policy. The policy has aligned its objective towards the fulfilment of goal number 9 of the Sustainable Development Goals. From an implication standpoint, this study provides insights into the challenges faced by Indian startups in business sustainability, clustering of funds across major cities, and specific regulatory discrepancies.