Startup India is a coveted project of the tech-savvy Prime Minister, though it did not take off on expected lines as challenges around the issue of Angel Tax became a big dampener for the startup ecosystem. Credit should be given to the government for successfully dealing with the issue and Angel Tax is not so much of a big worry now. The Startup India, when it was launched on January 16, 2016, had one clear goal in mind i.e, to empower startups to grow through innovation and design.

The Indian start-up industry is the third-largest in the world and contributes to some of 20 unicorns amongst Asia. In terms of sponsored start-ups, India has around 6,400 start-ups as well. India's startups have hit the turf internationally, with newcomers gaining ground in China and South East Asia, spreading to more than a dozen countries.

Much needs to be done to encourage the global expansion of Indian start-ups. In terms of improving the international prospects of Indian start-ups, reforms need to be introduced in areas such as cross-border remittances, foreign vehicle investment, joint ventures, lower interest rate foreign debt financing, which could be critical growth components.

The Government had proposed the establishment of the' India Startup Fund' with a body of INR 1,000crore to finance tech start-ups, with the

goal of encouraging or developing 50,000 new start-ups in the country by 2024. If it is really serious about taking startups to prosperity, it needs to concentrate on other issues as well.

According to the Startup India list, 29,681 startups have so far been registered with DPIIT. This has more than tripled from 8,939 startups registered until March 2018, according to data previously shared by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry with Financial Express Online. The growth of foreign participation in the Indian Securities and Exchange Board listed alternative investment funds (AIF), which invest in DPIIT-licensed startups under the Fund of Funds (FFS) for start-ups has decreased in FY20, according to government statistics. International investors contributed Rs.1,209crore to these AIFs in FY2018, which rose by 43percent to Rs.1,733crore in FY19.

Several programs have been undertaken since the launch of the initiative to contribute to PM Modi’s vision of transforming India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers, says startup India

However, in 11 months of FY20, investment hiked by just 19.8percent to Rs.2.077crore. Until 18 February 2020, 320 start-ups earned funding from 47 AIFs through Rs.10,000crore FFS. This increased from 247 on June 24, 2019 up 29.5percent. FFS announced by PM Modi in 2016 under the Startup India initiative has so far contributed Rs.3.12crore which was same since last year to the 47 AIFs that have earned the Corpus Fund of Rs.25.7crore and invested Rs.3.3crore in these 320 startups.

The Startup India Action plan has a 19-point agenda, which envisages several incubation centres, easier patent filing, tax exemptions, ease of setting-up of business, a Rs.10,000crore corpus fund, and a faster exit mechanism, among others. The idea was not to just connect the unconnected and bridge the digital divide, but to enable the country to leapfrog onto the technology superhighway. The Digital India programme is a flagship programme of the government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy added the government