Delhi, August 13: Amid the coronavirus pandemic, when businesses have been badly hit, it is the startups who have been affected the most. In order to give fillip, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recently met industry leaders, young entrepreneurs to draft a new policy for startups. The objective is to make Delhi a leading choice for startups.
Delhi boasts of over 7000 start-ups and it is also on top of the list of cities with the most number of active start-ups, according to a report by TiE. In addition to this, the CM further highlighted that the valuation of the city’s start-ups is about $50 billion. The report published in 2019, mentioned that Delhi-NCR is set to become one of the top five global startup hubs with 12,000 start-ups, 30 unicorns, and a cumulative valuation of about $150 billion by 2025.
The Objective Behind the Draft policy For Startups:
According to the statement released by the Chief Minister’s office, the objective of the draft policy is to support entrepreneurs and help create a robust economic and policy infrastructure that will create new jobs and add competitive dynamics into the current economic system.
Takeaways of CM’s Meeting With Experts:
The prominent participants in the discussion held were Ajay Chowdhry of HCL, Rajan Anandan MD Sequoia Capital, Padmaja Ruparel of Indian Angel Network, Sriharsha Majety, co-founder and CEO, Swiggy, Suchita Salwan, founder and CEO, Little Black Book, Tarun Bhalla, founder, Avishkaar and others.
Some of the suggestions included creating industry-academic partnerships, entrepreneurship programs for young professionals in Delhi and making the national capital’s physical infrastructure more conducive for startups to work.
Here’s the 2-Step Process of Drafting the New Policy:
The drafting of the new policy for startups will be conducted in a two-step process. The first step involved consulting industry leaders, experts from various sectors to provide valuable inputs in drafting the policy.
In the second step, the draft would be put up online for the public to recommend changes and suggest new policy rules.
Arvind Kejriwal along with the industry leaders are hopeful that with the new startup policy, Delhi will surely become a preferred destination for startups. It will also fight the economic instability that has been created due to the coronavirus crisis.