Influenced by the central government’s efforts to promote the startup culture in India, the state governments have also stepped up for the startups in our country. Many states have taken initiatives and measures to pave the way for startups in their specific states and give them a boost. A few of these states include –

ANDHRA PRADESH

Through the Innovation and Start-up Policy, the government intends to create an ecosystem that produces an entrepreneur in every family. The targets laid out for the Andhra Pradesh through this Policy are,

• 100 Incubators & Accelerators to be established.
• 5,000 Companies & Start Ups to be incubated.
• 1 million sq.ft. of Incubation Space to be developed.
• Venture Capital of INR 1000 crore to be mobilized for Innovation.
• Foster Innovation Culture

For more details please visit http://apit.ap.gov.in/

BIHAR

At the 4th Bihar Entrepreneurship Summit (BES), organised by Bihar Entrepreneurs Association Chief Minister Nitish Kumar released Bihar StartUp Policy 2017. Bihar is among the few states in India to have a startup policy that was drafted and introduced in 2016. It was later repealed to incorporate changes based on the suggestions and feedback, and was re-launched. The aim of the policy is to enable Bihar to emerge as the most preferred destination for startups and entrepreneurs. The Government has set up INR 500 crore fund to encourage and facilitate entrepreneurship in the State.

The policy has four primary pillars called YUVA. Y stands for ‘Yes to startups’ (this includes awareness, networking and mentoring campaign). U is for ‘Unleashing regulatory enablers for supporting startups’, V stands for ‘Vibrancy in the education system to encourage and facilitate startups’, and, finally, A stands for ‘Access to financing and incubation support’.

Financial Assistance –

• The startup policy has set up a nodal agency. Startups will receive financial assistance up to INR 10 lakh as an interest-free loan for 10 years. The entrepreneur will contribute five percent of this financial assistance.
• The policy also states that it will facilitate access to angel investors, provide free-of cost valuation for startups, and that the government will also bear all costs associated with filing domestic patents.  The project management unit is to specifically handhold SC/ST/women/differently abled entrepreneurs in setting up their ventures.
• An additional 15-percent incentive for SC/ST/differently-abled, and five percent for women-run enterprises is also set down in the policy.
• Financial assistance is to be given to incubators too and the policy stipulates a reimbursement of the cost of incubating a startup, up to INR 2 lakh. One-stop portal for all kinds of statutory clearances from regulatory authorities, exemption from licensing/registration/inspection requirements under various State Acts for a period of five years.
• Reservation of 10% in forthcoming industrial parks/SME clusters for startups/incubators/common infrastructure. The Bihar Innovation Hub will provide incubation services to startups, including shared workspaces, access to funding, valuation advisory etc. among other things.

For more details please Visit http://www.startup.bihar.gov.in/

GUJARAT

When all the states are gearing up the support the startups in their own states, how can Gujarat fall behind in this race? They have a three-fold strategy which involves the innovators, the Institutions, and the government committee. These three form a chain, wherein the innovators come up with the idea which will be facilitated by the institutions and then approved and financed by the government committee. Gujarat Govt. has also introduced Scheme for Assistance to Startup/Innovation under Industrial policy, Student Startup & Innovation policy and Electronics & IT/ITeS Startup Policy.

Startup Policy Gujarat – Incentives for Startup

• INR 10,000 per month will be provided to the innovator as sustenance allowance for one year whose project is recommended and approved by institution’s Screening Committee.
• Up to INR 5 lakh assistance will be provided to the institution for mentoring service annually.
• Up to INR 10.00 lakh assistance will be provided for Cost of Raw Material/Components & other related equipment required for the innovative process for the new product development based on approval of the Screening Committee.
• Institution will support to the innovator by providing mentor services. Institution will allow the innovator to use facilities available in the institution for start ups. Govt. will support selected innovator to get free access to University/Libraries/Govt.
• Laboratories/SDCs(GIDC)/CoE/PSUs to have more clarity on his innovative ideas/concept.  Marketing/publicity assistance of up to INR 10lakh will be provided for the introduction of innovated product in the market. Project of Innovated Product will be assisted in getting Venture Capital.

Tax Related Incentive

• The eligible unit shall pay the net VAT payable under the provisions of the Gujarat VAT Act, 2003 in the Government treasury.
• The eligible unit will be allowed reimbursement to the extent of 80% of the net VAT paid excluding the following: (a) Additional Tax, and (b) Reduction of ITC as per the provisions of the G VAT Act, 2003.It is clarified that the amount paid on account of additional tax and the reduction of ITC as per the provisions of the G VAT Act, 2003 shall not be reimbursed.
•  Only 70% of eligible fixed capital investment of eligible unit will be considered for reimbursement. o The reimbursement will be available for a period of five years from the date of production or the completion of limit of 70% whichever is earlier.
• The eligible unit shall be entitled for reimbursement up to 1/5th of eligible limit in a particular year.
• Restrictions will he made to ensure that the amount reimbursed is not again claimed by the subsequent dealers by way of tax credit for interstate sales, branch transfer, consignment and export. o The eligible unit shall manufacture the goods in its own unit for which it is eligible for incentives.
• The eligible unit shall not transfer its business during the incentive period, nor assign its rights and responsibilities to any other agency.
• The eligible unit shall remain in production during the incentive period.
• The scheme shall be reviewed under the GST regime, but the total of assistance shall not exceed that available under this scheme.

For more details please visit http://www.startupgujarat.in

JHARKHAND

Jharkhand is the most recent entrant in Indian states with startup policy. The state government has facilitated INR 10 crore for Innovation and Incubation Centers in different part of states. An innovation lab would also be set up with the help of IIM Ahmedabad.
With this startup policy initiative, the state government aims to encourage the startups in the sectors like Information Technology, Health, Tourism, Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Alternative Energy.

Startup Policy Jharkhand Incentives

• 100 % reimburse of VAT paid by Startups. The Government of Jharkhand reimburse 100% of the patent filling cost.
• 100% reimbursement of registration fee/stamp duty/transfer duty paid by startups on purchase of land.
• A three-year moratorium fee on payment of all municipal duties by the startups. A reimbursement of 50% on lease rentals up to INR 5 lakh per annum for maximum period of three years. A reimbursement of 30% of the amount paid to internet service provider shall be reimburse up to INR 60,000 annually on furnishing self-certified bills for 5 years since registration of Startup. Startups registered with Jharkhand will be prioritized for allocation of land/space in IT parks and Special Economic Zone.
• Local Preference Intender for Startups registered in Jharkhand.
• All existing government/proposed IT or Industrial parks will have 10% of space earmarked for startups.
• Government of Jharkhand will pool a fund of INR 250 crore in phases over the next five years, Starting with INR 50 crore. Separate corpus fund of INR 50 crore to support entrepreneurship in the state.

For more details please visit http://www.jharkhand.gov.in

KARNATAKA

Karnataka has setup a 5-year plan with very specific goals and targets which they hope to achieve by the end of the plan. They want to have at least 25 technology related startups that aim to solve the social problems faced by the state. Along with this, they want around 2000 startups focused just on technology and 600 startups based on products. With their policies, they are aiming to create around 18lakh jobs in the state itself.

Startup Policy Karnataka – Incentives

Patent Incentives –

• For Domestic Patents: The cost of filing and prosecution of patent application will be reimbursed to incubated startup companies upto a limit of INR 2 lakh per Indian patent awarded. For Foreign Patents: For foreign patents on a single subject matter, upto INR 10 lakh (INR 1 million) will be reimbursed to incubated startups.
• The reimbursement will be done in 2 stages – 75% after the patent is filed and the balance 25% after the patent is granted.

Tax Incentives –

• Service Tax paid by startups incubated in Government of Karnataka supported incubators and CIFs whose annual turnover does not exceed INR 50 lakh for the first three years will be reimbursed.
• VAT/CST paid in Karnataka, upto a maximum of INR 50 lakh turnover by incubated startup companies within a period of first three years of being incubated will be reimbursed.
• VAT/CST on goods supplied to the Incubator or incubated will be reimbursed.

Funding Support –

Karnataka was a pioneer in funding the growth of IT industry through its KITVEN-1 and 2 funds. Under its Innovate Karnataka initiative, the State Government would be providing financial support equivalent to INR 300 crore in the form of grant/equity through its various funds to startups; micro and small enterprises in IT,BT, and other manufacturing sectors in the next four years.

Karsemven Fund –

• Fund Size: INR 100 crores.
• Sector: Semiconductor, Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM), Embedded Systems and such other allied sectors.
• Eligibility: Entrepreneurs/companies seeking Venture Capital assistance can forward their Executive Summary (not exceeding 4-5 pages covering Company Background, Market Opportunities, Products/Technology, Target Market, Operating Plan, Funding).

Kitven Fund-3 (Biotech) –

• Fund Size: INR 50 crore.
• Sector: Bio Technology, Life Sciences and other allied fields.
• Eligibility: Entrepreneurs/companies seeking Venture Capital assistance can forward their Executive Summary (not exceeding 4-5 pages covering Market Opportunities, Products/Technology, Target Market, Operating Plan, Funding).

Startup Fund of Funds –

• Fund Size: INR 200 crore.
• Sector: Multi sector.
• Eligibility: Daughter VC Funds must be compliant with SEBI and other regulatory framework in India.

Idea2poc Fund –

• Fund Size: upto INR 50 lakh.
• Sector: All technology based sectors.
•  Eligibility: Students, professionals and startups may apply here for this GoK grant-inaide

Grand Challenges Funds –

• Fund Size: INR 15 crore.
• Sector: All sectors.
• Eligibility: The State Government will use the mode of grand challenges to identify 5 challenges every year, to seek innovative, technology-based solutions from startups. Initial grant, follow on funding and implementation of the pilot will be ensured for selected solutions.

Incubation Support –

GoKNASSCOM 10000 Startups Warehouse

• GoK – NASSCOM Startup warehouse with a subsidized co-working space of 30,000 sqft facility will help create a very robust ecosystem to support the early stage companies by getting angel investors, VCs, and enterprises to play a more active role in Bengaluru and getting more start – ups to succeed.
• The facility is now expanded with Center of Excellence for innovation and entrepreneurship including an Hackcelerator, a Center of Excellence for Design- an integrated design work space and a Wearables Lab.
• About 150 of the 300 seats have already been filled up and startups are benefitting from the highly energised ecosystem besides the subsidised seat rentals of INR 3500 per month.

GoK Incubator for Tech Startups (GIFTS)

• Dept. of IT, BT and S&T, Govt of Karnataka through transparent and unified tendering process [ e-procurement platform] has identified a private partner, M/s Springboard Solution Pvt. Ltd as Program Manager (PM) to operate its 1st incubator operated on a truly PPP mode.
• The “GoK Incubator for Tech Start-ups” (GIfTS) is intended to support and nurture startups that are involved in the domain of Information and Communication Technologies through the development of software / hardware products and services.
• The core focus is on development of software, embedded solutions, internet applications, SMAC etc. This support from the GoK has substantially reduced the per seat cost for 150 seats out of the total 270 seats in the incubator and co working space, from INR 10,000 to INR 3,000 with high quality support services, enabling a reasonably large proportion of incubatees to grow to the next stage.

GoK-Mobile 10x Startup Hub –

• GOK-Mobile 10X Start-up Hub is a initiative of Government of Karnataka in partnership with Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
• Hub is set up as Centre for Apps Excellence for innovation and entrepreneurship in Apps development  It provides early stage Apps startups and developers with highly affordable coworking space, training centre, testing lab and design centre conveniently located in the center of the city  As of now the centre has housed about 25 Startup with no charges to the space and facility offered

Bangalore Bio-innovation Centre –

• BBC is a first of its kind and the largest Bio-incubation centre in the country and is an initiative of Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka.
• Nestled between academic zone comprising of Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB), Centre for Human Genetics (CHG) and Bio-industrial zone, the centre aspires to create a seamless value chain connect from ideas to start-ups and ventures.
• With a total funding of INR 56 crore in building, labs and instrumentation, the facility presently has 50000 sq feet of state of the art incubation and instrumentation facility. 16 top notch BT startups selected through a rigorous selection process, are benefiting from the infrastructure available nowhere else in the country.
• Selection process is on for filling up 9 more such suits. Strategically positioned to nucleate a vibrant bio-innovation ecosystem in the region, BBC envisions nurturing the innovations in broad areas of biotechnology such as healthcare, agriculture, food and nutrition, environment, by providing state-of-the art Infrastructure including central equipment facility, mentorship, networking, branding and funding support.

For more details, please visit http://startup.karnataka.gov.in

KERALA

Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) have been actively initiating various programmes for developing the student entrepreneurship in the state. Government of Kerala declared the ‘start up policy’ with an aim to accelerate the growth of student entrepreneurs. KSUM being the nodal agency for implementing the Startup policy have come up with various schemes for the effective implementation of the policy. The schemes cover a broad area from schools, colleges and to young entrepreneurs. The policy defines Incubator as Technology Business Incubator recognized either by the Central or State Government while ’Start Up’ as innovation based technology firm registered under the Companies Act and within 3 years of incorporation.

Kerala Startup Policy – School level initiatives

The government conducts three big initiatives for the school-going student community. The ‘Learn to Code’ Raspberry Pi Programme is aimed at students in class 8. So far, they have distributed around 10,000 Raspberry Pi units, impacting 40,000 students. In the next phase, 10,000 kits will cover another 40,000 students. As part of the electronic kits distribution initiative, 4,000 plug-and-play kits are being distributed to students from classes 9 to 12.

KSUM has also partnered with Intel to organise tech challenges for students from classes 8 to 12.

College level initiatives – KSUM is setting up Innovation Entrepreneur Development Centres (IEDCs) in a number of colleges across the state. IEDCs are small incubators within colleges where students with innovative ideas can pursue entrepreneurship along with their studies. The Startup Mission allocates funds (INR 2 lakh) for setting up IEDCs. As part of this initiative, KSUM conduct ideathons, hackathons, business modelling sessions, among others. So far, 200 startups are being mentored at IEDCs in more than 150 colleges across the state. Over 14,000 college students have participated in 157 boot camps and over 300 awareness programmes that have been conducted.

MIT Fab Labs – KSM has partnered with the Centre for Bits and Atoms, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Fab Lab Foundation, USA, to set up fabrication laboratories in the state. A fabrication laboratory (FabLab) is a technical prototyping platform offering digital fabrication, enabling users to create smart devices. The FabLab is also a knowledge hub connected to a global community of learners, educators, technologists, researchers and innovators. India’s biggest FabLabs by MIT is located in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. Mini FabLabs are in the offing for 20 engineering colleges across the state.

Technology Innovation Fellowship Programme (TIFP) – This programme enables technology evangelists to organise maker workshops, ideathons, hackathons or workshops for startups and aspiring entrepreneurs. The fellows will act as a nucleus for a selected geographical location, where they could associate with neighboring startup boot camps, R & D centres, and tie up with technology community partners like Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla, Google, Intel, MIT FabLabs to run technical workshops as well as entrepreneurship development programmes. The Kerala Startup Mission has already on boarded 25 fellows.

For more details please visit https://startupmission.kerala.gov.in/

ODISHA

The Government in Odisha is more serious when it comes to startups. They have a vision of making Odisha one of the top three investment destinations in India. To achieve their goal, they have come up with a 10-year plan, which will work till 2025. They announced their plan along with “Make In India” in February itself. This plan is expected to attract a lot of investment in the state and also create a lot of jobs for the people as well.

Startup Policy Odisha – Incentives

Monthly Allowance for Startup –

• Monthly payment for the first three months may be made directly to a recognized eligible startup entity in its registered bank account on a monthly basis.
• Three months onwards, payment may be released based on the utilization report submitted by the Startup online to the Nodal agency within 15 days of completion of the first three months.
• Startup entity shall submit a utilization report highlighting the utilization of the monthly allowance in the first three months and enclose/upload supporting documents and bills, where applicable.
• Payment of the monthly allowance will be made for a period of one year only  Startup entity can avail this benefit only once.
• Startup entity shall submit a final utilization certificate highlighting utilization of the monthly allowance along with supporting documents and bills within one month of the completion of 1 year.

Product Development and Marketing / Publicity Assistance for Startup  –

• Startup will have to submit a self-contained product development plan with justification, online.
• Subject to approval, 50% of the payment to a recognized startup entity may be made in advance and the remaining 50% will be made to its registered bank account upon utilization of the advance payment on the basis of submission of utilization certificate along with bills.
• The Startup entity must submit utilization certificate along with bills for the advance payment within three months of receiving the grant.
• The Startup entity must submit final utilization certificate along with bills for the entire amount within six months of release of grant.

Need based Assistance for Startup –

• Startup entity will have to submit a self-contained plan with justification online for the need and the manner of utilisation of the assistance.
• Subject to approval, payment may be made directly to a recognized startup in its registered bank account.
• The Startup entity must submit utilization certificate along with bills for all the expenses within three months of receiving the grant.

One-Time Capital Grant for Incubator –

• The approved aspiring/ existing incubator will submit online application for Monetary Grant to the Startup Secretariat and upload requisite documents for due diligence.
• The grant may be disbursed in a phased manner as per the budget/utilisation plan submitted by the incubator and approved by the Startup Council.
• The grant may be disbursed in proportion to the funds brought in by the approved incubator, as mentioned in their budget plan and approved by the Startup Council.

Reimbursement of Utility Expense for Incubator  –

• One-time payment of utility expenses limiting to INR 1 lakh per year for a maximum period of 3 years may be made directly to the approved existing incubator in its registered bank account.
• The incubator must submit bills for the expenses while availing the grant and submit utilization certificate within 3 months of the release of the grant.

Performance Capital Grant for Incubator –

• One-time payment may be made directly to the approved incubator in its registered bank account.
• The approved incubator will submit a list of the successful incubatees incubated at least for a period of three months.

For more details please visit https://startupodisha.gov.in/

RAJASTHAN

Rajasthan was way ahead when it came to startups, they launched their plans in October last year itself. The government plans to help set up around 500 startups within the next five years. For this purpose, they have allocated funding and also plan to set up around 50 incubators across the state. With their efforts, they plan to bring in a funding of around INR 500crores in the next 5 years and 100,000 sq. ft. of Incubation Space to be developed / facilitated

Startup Policy Rajasthan – Incentives

• Sustenance allowance of INR 10,000 per month for one year to the Startups at Idea/Prototype Stage, post approval by the Committee and Nodal Institution.
• Incubator will provide mentoring services, access to their labs, facilities etc. on a free-of-cost (FOC) basis.
• Selected startups to get free access to state infrastructure like university/libraries/ Govt. Laboratories etc.  Assistance for Startups at the Pilot Stage, under which marketing assistance of maximum INR 10 lakh will be provided to the startup to launch its product.
• Scope for financial assistance wherein the startup can source Venture Capital from Angel Investors/Venture Capital Funds. Selected Students entrepreneurs to be given grace marks and attendance in educational institutions. Further, their project may also count towards their degree completion credits.
• Special incentives and a state-wide business plan competition to invite new innovative business idea from across the state.
•  Incentives, including grants, have also been extended to angel investors. The policy also provides for Routine Startup Festivals to be held in the State. Startup Council to be setup with representatives from the industry to play an advisory role and act as a think-tank for strengthening the startup eco-system in the state.
• Plans are being drawn to setup a Rajasthan Startup Village and e-Platform. Until the setup is done, a cloud server for start-ups, MOOCs and co-ordinating with various related state and central govt. agencies has been proposed to further strengthen the start-up eco-system.

The focus will be on areas like Social and Cleantech – Rural Infrastructure & Services, Crafts, Water, Sanitation, Renewable Energy and Healthcare, including asset light models of healthcare delivery and medical device. Mobile and Information Technology, including but not limited to crowd sourcing, crowd funding, and online financial services will also be in focus.

For more details please visit http://startupoasis.in/

UTTAR PRADESH

The state government is working to get more IT investment into the state and promoting upcoming startups in this particular field itself. They plan to do this by setting up IT parks and cities and provide world class facilities across the state. These IT Infrastructure policies came into effect fairly recently and will remain effective for a minimum of 5 years.

IT & Startup Policy Uttar Pradesh – Incentives

At Idea/Prototype stage

• Startups shall be provided sustenance allowance of INR 15,000 per month for a period of 1 year whose project is recommended by Nodal agency & approved by the committee.
• At Pilot stage – Upon securing of min funding of 25% from a known and registered angel/venture funds/ reputed incubators by startup, a marketing/ commercialization assistance of 25% of actual cost or INR 10 lakh whichever is lower, shall be provided to startups in 3 phases to launch its product /services in the market subject to the biannual review of the progress.
• The state government shall match 25% of the money invested by the VC subject to the condition that the funding shall be done only to the startups based in Uttar Pradesh. The fund would be professionally managed like a PE/Venture fund with industry leaders in the committee along with support from private players and GoUP.
• State government shall promote establishment of new incubators, which shall be run within the State Government/Semi-Government institutes/ agency/ organisations, along with existing incubators which are approved by DST/GOI.
• Host Institutes shall be provided capital grant of max 50% for IT infrastructure setup, subject to maximum of INR 25 lakh. The same limit shall be granted for strengthening existing Incubators in case of expansion subject to the capacity utilization of the existing Incubator for 2 years. In case the grant need to be exceeded from INR 25 lakh upon the request of Host Institutions, the Empowered Committee shall decide the same on case to case basis.
• The selected Incubators shall be required to appoint minimum 2 mentors (each from Academia from reputed institute & prominent Industry person) to be paid on honorary basis up to INR 2 lakh per Annum.
• The selected incubators shall get the financial support up to the tune of 5 lakh per year for 5 years covering the deficit of the operational expenditure of Incubators.
• The Government of Uttar Pradesh shall establish an initial Corpus (Seed fund) of INR 100 crores in phases to promote Incubators and mobilize startups in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The additional funding by the Government shall be done based on the requirement & scalability as decided by the empowered committee.

For more details please visit – http://itpolicyup.gov.in/

WEST BENGAL

West Bengal launched its policies relating to startups in January itself. It aims to nurture and help startups in various ways. They even launched a website by the name of startupbengal.in in an effort to get all the stakeholders in that community on a single platform. With this initiative, communication between startups, investors, service providers etc. is expected to become easier and smoother. These policies will be in effect until December 2021.

Startup Policy West Bengal – Incentives

Pre-ldea Stage

• State will fund capital expenditure upto INR 10 lakh to Universities in the State to create a central Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC).
• State will fund relevant activities of the EDCNs to nurture entrepreneurship and promotion of innovation led start-up culture upto INR 10 lakh per annum.
• State will offer funding assistance for EDCN capacity development programme for maximum of 2 EDC faculty / resource per EDC at one of the recognized TBIs in the state.

Idea/Proof of Concept Stage

• State will facilitate creation of a network of kick-starter funds for sustenance or early stage funding to start-ups.
• The cost of filing and prosecution of patent application will be reimbursed to the incubated start-up companies as per MSME Policy of Government of West Bengal.

Pilot Stage

• Access of priority equity funding from WB MSME Venture Capital Fund, where at least 20% of the fund is earmarked to support start-ups.
• Any fiscal incentive available under State Government policy will be applicable to Start-ups.
• Special fiscal incentive to investment bankers at 1% of the investment made by registered Venture Capital / Private Equity Fund into Bengal-based start-ups as success fee.
• Special fiscal incentive to Incubators at 2% of the investment received by its incubates from SEBI registered Venture Capital / Private Equity Fund into Bengal based start-ups.
• Special grant to TBIs in the state at 5% of the investment received by its incubates from SEBI registered Venture Capital/Private Equity Fund or Grant received from Government of India for promoting rural technology based start-ups and social enterprise start-ups providing solution to service-access problems in rural Bengal.
• Incentives under the extant policies/schemes of the state government will be available to registered startups.

Recognizing the special needs of IT sector startups, separate incentives and support to IT start ups will be notified by the government. In order to avail of the incentives under this Policy, the entity must be registered with the state government.

For more details please visit – http://www.startupbengal.in/