The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech had announced the “Start-up India” initiative. This initiative aims at fostering entrepreneurship and promoting innovation by creating an ecosystem that is conducive for growth of Startups.

The Government of India launched the “Startup India” movement on January 16, 2016 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. The Action Plan for Startup India was unveiled by the Honorable Prime Minister of India. This Action Plan lays down the roadmap for creation of a conducive ecosystem for the growth of Startups in India.

The Startup India initiative of the Government of India envisions building a strong eco-system for nurturing innovation and Startups in the country and empowering Startups to grow through innovation and design. The Government has been making fast paced efforts towards making the vision of the Startup India initiative a reality. Since the launch of the initiative in January 2016, considerable progress has been made in this regard.

Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is organising a day-long conference on 23rd July, 2016. The conference will be presided over by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon’ble Minister of State for Commerce & Industry. The conference would serve as a platform for all States to discuss the progress, policies and good practices they have made on the Startup India initiative. State Governments of Telangana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kerala and Karnataka would be presenting the initiatives undertaken by them to promote Startups. Besides the States, Startups, Investors, Incubators and various ministries and departments of Government of India related to Startups will be part of separate panel discussions on various facets of the Startup India initiative and the Startup ecosystem as a whole.

While the Startups will share their growth stories and expectations from the government, the investors will deliberate on access of funds in different stages of the Startup life-cycle. Frameworks and models to provide infrastructure, mentoring and handholding to startups will be discussed by a panel of selected Incubators. The Ministries and departments working on Startup India initiative will also discuss on implementation of Startup India Action Plan and way forward.

In this context, the Startup India States’ Conference is being organized on 23rd July 2016, in New Delhi.

Startup India initiative: States and stakeholders to discuss implementation, funding access, incubation and ecosystem support mechanisms. The Startup India initiative establishes an Action Plan to create a supportive ecosystem for startups, targeting access to capital, incubation and mentoring, infrastructure, and regulatory measures to nurture innovation and scale enterprises. A DIPP-organised States' Conference convenes States, startups, investors, incubators and ministries to review implementation, share state-level policy practices, and discuss funding frameworks, incubation models and inter-ministerial coordination to operationalise the Action Plan.