Govt slashes Startup India kitty to Rs 25 cr; Make in India gets more money

The government has reduced the allocation for Startup India programme in the Budget 2019-20 but added more monies to the Make in India kitty.

According to the budget documents, the allocation for Startup India programme has been slashed to Rs 25 crore for 2019-20 from the revised estimate of Rs 28 crore in 2018-19.

Startup India initiative aims at fostering entrepreneurship and promoting innovation by creating an ecosystem that is conducive to growth of budding entrepreneurs.

There are 19 components under the Startup India action plan spanning across areas such as simplification and hand-holding, funding support and incentives, and industry-academia partnership and incubation, according to the documents.

On the other hand, Make in India programme that received increased budgetary allocation include scheme for investment promotion (Rs 232.02 crore), scheme for implementation of national manufacturing policy (Rs 8.47 crore), and fund of funds (Rs 100 crore).

Overall, the total allocation for Make in India initiative was increased to Rs 473.3 crore for 2019-20 as against the revised estimate of Rs 149 crore in 2018-19.

Make in India campaign, which aims to transform the country into a global manufacturing hub, was launched on September 25, 2014.

However, the cumulative allocation for the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) has been reduced to Rs 5,674.51 crore for 2019-20 as against the revised estimate of Rs 6,140.23 crore in 2018-19.

The department, which was recently renamed as Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), is under the commerce and industry ministry and deals with foreign investment-related issues.