New economy: India recognized nearly 1.15 lakh entities as startups until Oct
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said the government has recognized 114,902 startups in the country as of October 31, 2023.
These eligible firms can seek fiscal incentives under the Startup India Action Plan, launched in January 2016, which includes income tax exemption for three years, he said.
Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Goyal said the action plan includes 19 items across areas like simplification and handholding, funding support and incentives, and industry-academia partnership and incubation.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) “has recognized 114,902 entities as startups as of 31st October 2023,” he said.
Replying to another question, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said subdued demand in major export destinations such as the US, Hong Kong, the Middle East, and China and availability of raw materials at competitive rates were some of the challenges faced by the gems and jewelry export industry.
Export of gems and jewelry during 2022-23 was worth USD 38.11 billion, a decline of 2.95 percent compared to the previous year’s export worth USD 39.27 billion, she informed.
The sector contributed 8.45 percent to the total merchandise exports during 2022-23. This industry employs around 5 million skilled and semi-skilled workforce.
In another reply, she said that to make sure goods imported are not of substandard quality, the customs authority follows a risk-based framework to intelligently prevent entry of non-compliant goods at the borders.
“A task force has also been constituted in the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) for enforcing national standards,” Patel said.
Imports of television sets of screen size between 54 cm and 68 cm dipped to USD 0.02 million during the April-October period this fiscal from USD 0.25 million in 2021-22.
Similarly, imports of radial tires used in buses/lorries declined to USD 1.01 million during the seven months of this fiscal as against USD 16.92 million in 2021-22.
“The Department of Commerce has been regularly monitoring and sensitizing line ministries and other stakeholders from time to time and at various levels on the issue of imports,” she said.
Sensitization is happening in areas such as addressing domestic supply rigidities and looking at domestic production opportunities /enhancement of capacity; timely use of trade remedy options; Quality Controls; enforcing rules of origin; tariff measures /inverted duty correction; and import monitoring.
