67 startups receive tax benefits so far, says minister

New Delhi: The government has extended tax benefits to 67 startups so far with a view to promoting budding entrepreneurs in the country, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry C R Chaudhary said on Tuesday.

In January 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had unveiled a slew of incentives to boost start-up ecosystem, offering them a tax holiday and inspector raj-free regime for three years, capital gains tax exemption and Rs 10,000 crore corpus to fund them.

"3,576 startups have been recognised as on September 7 and tax benefits have been given to 67 innovative startups," Chaudhary said here while addressing the startup India states conference.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under the ministry, considered 671 startups for income tax exemption and of this 67 received the benefit. The minister also assured full support and facilitation from both the centre and state governments.

"We are here to support you. Whenever you need any assistance or help, we are there for that," he added.

The minister asked young entrepreneurs to work in areas like agriculture, health, biotechnology and animal husbandry. Speaking at the conference, DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said 15 states have formulated their startup policies and through that they are facilitating the young businesses.

"States are important partners in this exercise," he said adding startups need support in areas like infrastructure, funding and marketing.

He informed that Rs 1,587 crore funds were given to startups so far besides intellectual property related benefits were extended to 639. The DIPP is in the process of setting up a Rs 2,000 crore credit guarantee fund and for that "we are about to go to cabinet soon".

This corpus would provide funding facilities to startups. Under this, Rs 2,000 crore will be disbursed over a period of three years.