The Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, speaking at the Invest India Roundtable

Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu chaired a roundtable of Invest India in New Delhi today. Various regulatory issues faced by Startups in the sectors of e-pharmacy, NBFCs, unmanned aerial vehicle and retail delivery of petroleum from door to door were discussed with the concerned Ministries and departments of the Government of India in the presence of the Minister. Following issues like presence of pharmacist at e-pharmacy platforms, stream lining of the application process for NBFCs by RBI, reforms in current guidelines for UAV sector, which doesn’t allow for manufacturing of drones, and vehicle specifications for door to door retail delivery of petroleum, were discussed at length.

Secretary, DIPP Ramesh Abhishek, Deepak Bagala MD and CEO of Invest India and officers from RBI, SEBI, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Drugs Controller General OF India (DGCI), Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA were present at the roundtable.

The Minister said that the roundtable is a self-evaluation exercise to encourage the talent pool in India who are doing phenomenal work through their Startups for the growth of the economy and the country.

Regulatory reforms for startups: e-pharmacy, NBFC application procedures, UAV manufacturing rules, and petroleum delivery vehicle standards. Discussion focused on regulatory challenges for startups in e-pharmacy (pharmacist presence), streamlining NBFC application procedures, reforming UAV rules that bar domestic drone manufacturing, and vehicle specifications for door-to-door petroleum retail. The roundtable gathered investment promotion officials and multiple central ministries and regulators to identify administrative and regulatory bottlenecks and consider targeted procedural and guideline adjustments to support startup operations.