DPIIT proposes to appoint consulting agency for Startup India initiatives

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will rope in a consulting agency to support it in effective and on ground implementation of initiatives for startups.

The department has floated a notice inviting request for proposal (RFP) from interested agencies.

The department "proposes to engage a consultancy organisation to provide support...for a period of three years, extendable one year at a time for a total duration of five years, to assist and support the department in effective and on ground implementation of Startup India Action Plan".

The agency, it said, will also support the department in scaling up the Startup India initiative through manifold interventions considered important for building a strong ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs.

The main objectives include handholding, supervising and monitoring implementation of recommendations for next three years; examining the need of current ecosystem; and provide short, medium and long-term suggestions for implementation by various agencies in consultation with various stake holders to scale up the initiative; and undertake the state startup ranking exercise every year by coordinating with states and other stake holders.

Startup India is the flagship initiative of the government, launched in January 2016, that intends to build a strong ecosystem for the growth of startup businesses, to drive sustainable economic growth and generate employment opportunities. The Startup India action plan provides tax and other incentives.

Since the launch of the initiative in 2016, a total of 28,979 startups have been recognized by DPIIT as on March 1.