Delhi’s new policy for startups discussed
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday convened a meeting with a panel of industry leaders and young entrepreneurs to kickstart the consultation process for Delhi’s new policy for startups and discuss ideas to develop Delhi as a leading choice for startups.
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The objective of the draft policy is to support entrepreneurs and build a robust economic and policy infrastructure that will create new jobs and bring new competitive dynamics into the current economic system.
The startup policy consultation will be conducted in two stages. Firstly, in the spirit of the Delhi Model of teamwork, the Delhi Government today invited industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and policy experts from various sectors to provide inputs in drafting the new startup policy. Prominent business leaders and entrepreneurs expressed interest and joined hands with the Delhi government in this initiative. The industry leaders who joined today’s meeting includes pioneers like Ajai Chowdhry (Co-founder, HCL), Rajan Anandan (MD Sequoia Capital), Padmaja Ruparel (Co-founder, Indian Angel Network) and young leaders like Sriharsha Majety (Co-founder and CEO, Swiggy), Farid Ahsan (Co-founder, ShareChat), Suchita Salwan (Founder and CEO, Little Black Book), Tarun Bhalla (Founder, Avishkaar), Riyaaz Amlani, CEO & MD, Impresario Handmade Restaurants etc.
Following this, the Delhi government will soon release a draft Startup Policy and launch an online forum to seek inputs from the general public on the start-up policy. This will give the startup policy a fresh perspective and in the true spirit of the Delhi Model, cement Delhi government’s commitment to delivering results through teamwork and unity.
Referring to a report from TiE from September 2019, the Chief Minister highlighted that with over 7000 start-ups from the region, Delhi has the highest number of active start-ups in the country and now the valuation of the city’s start-ups is about $50 billion. The report states that Delhi-NCR is set to become one of the top five global start-up hubs with 12,000 start-ups, 30 unicorns, and a cumulative valuation of about $150 billion by 2025.
Delhi being the national capital is a hub of students, industries, and many prestigious institutions. In the last few years, the startup ecosystem here has amassed a plethora of opportunities for budding entrepreneurs. At the launch of the startup policy consultation process, Kejriwal said: “Right since my IIT days, I have seen some of the most brilliant minds from India go abroad looking for better opportunities. I believe Indians are the smartest entrepreneurs in the world and all they need is the right opportunity and the right conditions to help them thrive. With this start-up policy, we aim to make Delhi as one of the top 5 global destinations for start-ups.”
The industry leaders welcomed the initiative and lauded Kejriwal’s efforts in reducing the incidence of CoVID in the city and making continuous efforts towards reviving the economy, and lauded the government’s appetite to execute novel ideas. Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital said: “NCR is already the largest startup region in India and within NCR, Delhi has the most number of startups. We were honored to be invited by the Chief Minister of Delhi to provide suggestions on how to make Delhi one of the world’s top 5 startup destinations. The discussion was very good with many ideas on what it will take Delhi’s startup ecosystem to the next level.”
Riyaaz Amlani, CEO & MD, Impresario Handmade Restaurants said: “I am so glad that the CM has convened this panel. To battle the financial effects of COVID timely measures provided by the Delhi Govt would mean that we can defeat the financial effects of COVID and come out even stronger.”
