One startup per district: Digital portal BHASKAR launched to push growth

Union Minister Piyush Goyal launched the BHASKAR portal to connect startups, investors, and service providers, a move aimed at pushing the Centre's efforts to promote the startup sector

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday launched the Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry (BHASKAR) initiative, a central hub for startups, investors, service providers, and government bodies to collaborate and share ideas.

"Let's make this a one-stop shop for the entire ecosystem through simple and easy-to-use links, and easy to navigate," the Commerce and Industry Minister said. 

The BHASKAR portal is aimed at connecting relevant stakeholders of the startup ecosystem, such as mentors and investors among others to promote the industry’s growth. The portal will have features such as centralised access to resources, networking and collaboration, and creating personalised identification, among others.

How can one make use of the BHASKAR portal?

BHASKAR, which means rising Sun, symbolises India's startup growth journey, Goyal had said earlier. Under the initiative, all stakeholders will be assigned a unique BHASKAR ID. This approach is meant to ensure that the users can have personalised interactions and a tailored experience on the platform.

The Centre plans to position the portal as the world's largest digital registry for the startup ecosystem. The process is expected to stimulate faster decision-making and action.

The startup ecosystem in India has recorded significant growth with at least 1,46,000 government-recognised startups, which have created over 1.5 million direct jobs, the Centre said.

Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Amardeep Singh Bhatia said that the Centre plans to increase the number of startups to five million in the years ahead.

DPIIT Joint Secretary Sanjiv said the Centre has targeted to have at least one startup in every district by January next year.