Modi government's ₹10,000cr start-up fund to target tech, AI sectors
What's the story
The Indian government had announced a Fund of Funds Scheme (FFS) with a total corpus of ₹10,000 crore, earlier this year.
Now, a PTI report states that the majority of this funding will be used to support start-ups in sectors such as new-age technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine building.
The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry will oversee the allocation of this fund.
Previous initiatives
New fund emulates initiative launched in 2016
The new FFS builds on the lines of a similar initiative launched in 2016.
The previous scheme, which was aimed at stimulating venture capital investments, was managed by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
SIDBI provided funds to Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which invested in start-ups.
This second iteration of the scheme is also expected to have a similar management structure.
Startup recognition
Startup India: A platform for innovation
Launched on January 16, 2016, the government began the Startup India initiative to create a strong ecosystem to support innovation and start-ups.
Entities recognized as 'start-ups' under this initiative are entitled to tax and non-tax incentives as per the government's eligibility criteria.
Till now, over 1.5 lakh entities across over 55 industries have been recognized as start-ups under this scheme.