Following Startup India initiative, several states plan startup policy for entrepreneurs

Encouraged by the Center's Startup India initiative, several states including Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are planning to come out with their own policies to promote budding entrepreneurs. States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have rolled out their respective policies and more are likely to follow the suit.

To promote the 'Startup India' programmme, an official said the Centre would work with the states on "hub and spoke model". "We will tell them to work on this model. The startup policies of states would help in attracting investors and create employment," the official added. Under the hub and spoke model, the Centre may provide necessary support to states for setting up incubation centres, tinkering labs and research centres.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16 had unveiled a slew of incentives to boost startup businesses, offering them a tax holiday and inspector raj-free regime for three years, capital gains tax exemption and Rs 10,000 crore corpus to fund them. The government had also announced a self-certification scheme in respect of nine labour and environment laws and said there will be no inspection during the first three years of launch of the venture.

To encourage young entrepreneurs and innovation, government has also decided to bear the entire cost of facilitation for filing of patents, trademarks or designs as well as relaxed public procurement norms for startups. The government has also decided to provide an 80 per cent rebate in filing of patents vis-a-vis other companies. This will help them pare costs in the crucial formative years.