SPF plans to work with govt to retain, draw deeptech talent back to India

The Startup Policy Forum is working with the government on a scheme to retain and bring back high-tech talent, while deeptech start-ups seek fixes to procurement rules and certification delays

The Startup Policy Forum (SPF) is working with the government on a scheme to facilitate the growth and return of high-tech talent needed for the development of deeptech companies in India, said SPF President and Chief Executive Officer Shweta Rajpal Kohli.

 

“India has very high entrepreneurial, technology and technical talent. We do think that there is a need to support them (deeptech talent) with the right incentives to stay in India and build out of the country. I think that is where the government can play a big role,” Kohli said.

 

SPF, launched in December 2024, established a multi-stakeholder deep tech advisory board in August this year to support 100 deeptech startups working in semiconductors, defence, quantum tech, green hydrogen, space, electric vehicles, biotech, and advanced manufacturing.

 

Unlike other sectors, the deeptech industry and the startups working in this area will need both regulatory support and timely government interventions, as their gestation periods are much longer, she said, adding that each of the ten sub-sectors that SPF has identified for accelerated growth requires specialised focus since their needs are so varied.

 

“The whole idea is that very often the government is not able to get real on-ground inputs and actionable policy points that are required to bring the right policy changes,” she said.

 

In the initiative, several successful startups, companies, investors, and founders have joined the advisory board to help fledgling deeptech companies make the right moves so they can achieve scale and support the government’s ambition to be more sovereign in critical areas, Kohli said.

 

The hope is that these policy inputs will ultimately take the form of a whitepaper and a blueprint of sorts for policymakers, she said.

 

In initial discussions with deeptech startups, most feel the government will need to be a major buyer of the products they make in the country to sustain both commercial and investor interest, Kohli said.

 

“So, we will be providing very specific inputs on how to tweak the current procurement process so that startups are not left out of it. Right now, some of the criteria, such as networth requirement, keep startups out of the bidding process,” she said.

 

A second issue most startups flagged is the certification process, given the delays in the country's current certification architecture, Kohli said, adding that even if some of the deeptech startups obtain global certifications, they are not recognised by Indian regulators. A good way out of the logjam would be to create a new framework which harmonises the global certification processes with Indian requirements, so that startups qualify for the government bids, she said.