The State Of Start-Ups

From the metropolis of Bengaluru to the countryside of Odisha, a new wave of innovation is being driven by state governments. In this battle of the states where everyone wants to build the best start-up ecosystem in the country, there are only winners

- By Binu Paul

On august 26, 2022, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik flagged off the ‘Startup Odisha Yatra 2.0’, which passed through all 30 districts in the state. The mobile start-up incubator covered more than 100 higher educational institutions over a period of 60 days, collecting 1,300-plus startup pitches from students. Seeing its success, the state government felt the principles and mindset of entrepreneurship should be instilled in more students from the grassroots level and launched a second campaign named ‘Start-up Express’, that has toured across 19 districts, and received about 1,270 ideas from school-going students.

Odisha’s start-up drive is only a fragment of a grand narrative that is beginning to take shape in the country. From the buzzing tech hub of Bengaluru to the bustling metropolis of Mumbai and picturesque hills of Himachal Pradesh, a new wave of innovation is sweeping across India—and it’s being driven by the state governments. With a renewed focus on fostering a start-up culture, they are taking bold steps to create a supportive ecosystem for entrepreneurs—from incubating them, providing funding and mentorship, enabling market linkages to simplifying regulations for them.

From a mere 452 ventures in 2016, India has seen a veritable proliferation of start-ups, with nearly 90,000 new-age entities being recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as of January 24, 2023. About 30 of the 36 states and Union Territories in the country have formulated dedicated start-up policies.