Delhi to soon get startup policy, CM Kejriwal meets stakeholders
To kick-start the consultation process to draft the policy and discuss ideas to develop Delhi as a leading choice for start-ups, Kejriwal on Saturday convened a meeting with industry leaders and young entrepreneurs, who joined hands with the government to advance its plans in the sector.
Delhi will soon have its own start-up policy, aimed at supporting entrepreneurs and generating employment, spokespersons from chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office said on Saturday.
To kick-start the consultation process to draft the policy and discuss ideas to develop Delhi as a leading choice for start-ups, Kejriwal on Saturday convened a meeting with industry leaders and young entrepreneurs, who joined hands with the government to advance its plans in the sector.
Among those who attended the Saturday meeting include Ajai Chowdhry (co-founder, HCL), Padmaja Ruparel (co-founder, Indian Angel Network) and young leaders like Sriharsha Majety (co-founder and CEO, Swiggy), Farid Ahsan (co-founder, ShareChat), Suchita Salwan (founder and CEO, Little Black Book), Riyaaz Amlani, CEO and MD, Impresario Handmade Restaurants.
The national capital is a hub of students, industries, and several prestigious institutions, and over the last few years, the start-up ecosystem here has amassed a plethora of opportunities for budding entrepreneurs.
At the launch of the policy consultation process, Kejriwal said, “Since my IIT days, I have seen some of the most brilliant minds from India go abroad looking for better opportunities. I believe Indians are the smartest entrepreneurs in the world and all they need are the right opportunity and the right conditions to help them thrive. With this start-up policy, we aim to make Delhi one of the top five global destinations for start-ups.”
Kejriwal is a student of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
According to a September 2019 report by TiE, sections of which Kejriwal quoted on Saturday, Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) house over 7,000 start-ups.
As per the report, the region has the highest number of active start-ups in the country as well, and has a 23% share of all start-ups in the country. The report states that Delhi-NCR is set to become one of the top five global start-up hubs by 2025 with 12,000 start-ups, 30 unicorns, and a cumulative valuation of about $150 billion. A unicorn is a start-up firm with a valuation above $1 billion.
The objective of the draft policy is to support entrepreneurs and build a robust economic and policy infrastructure that will create new jobs and bring new competitive dynamics into the current economic system, Kejriwal said.
The government in a statement said policy consultations will be held over two stages.
“Firstly, in the spirit of the Delhi model of teamwork, the Delhi government on Saturday invited industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and policy experts from various sectors to provide inputs in drafting the new start-up policy. Following this, the Delhi government will soon release a draft start-up policy and launch an online forum to seek inputs from the general public on the start-up policy,” the government said.
Industry stakeholders, meanwhile, welcomed the initiative.
Rajan Anandan, managing director, Sequoia Capital, said, “NCR is already the largest start-up region in India and within NCR, Delhi has the most start-ups. We were honoured to be invited by the chief minister of Delhi to provide suggestions on how to make Delhi one of the world’s top five start-up destinations. The discussion was very good with many ideas on what it will take Delhi’s startup ecosystem to the next level.”