'Startups should leverage FTAs'

INDIA HAS PREFERENTIAL or zero-duty market access to nearly 70% of global gross domestic product (GDP) through trade agreements, and startups should not limit themselves to domestic markets, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

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Addressing the Pfizer INDovation Startup Showcase Programme, he said startups should participate in global exhibitions and trade fairs, for which the ministry will provide support.

India’s missions in over 190 countries are available to assist innovators, and he also encouraged collaboration with global companies to access developed markets.

“There are 200,000 registered startups and many more unregistered,” the minister stated.

Goyal also referred to the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) near Visakhapatnam and expressed interest in establishing a similar facility in North India — possibly in Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh, or within National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) industrial projects — with dedicated land for medical devices and co-working spaces for startups.