AHMEDABAD: In a major boost to tech entrepreneurs, the Gujarat government on Sunday announced its first-ever
'IT and Electronics Startup Policy
', with a special focus on encouraging
startups by providing a slew of incentives and subsidies.
While announcing the policy , CM Anandiben Patel said that the policy will be applicable only to IT and electronics related startups. She said that youth should apply their minds to constructive work instead of engaging in 'andolan'.
The state government had earlier announced a policy in January 2015 for startups with an emphasis on manufacturing and services sector. The 2015 policy was launched by industries department and was focused on manufacturing sector. The policy announced on Sunday will be a different policy with specific focus on technology-based
startups. “Under the policy , the state government would develop 50 incubators to mentor and guide 2,000 startups in the next five years. Our aim is to attract an investment of Rs7,000 crore through this policy . The Gujarat government will allot around 10 lakh sq ft of land for development of 50 incubators, which will provide guidance to budding innovators in setting up their
startup units,“ said Anandiben Patel.
As per the policy , the incubators will get Rs5 lakh each year as mentoring assistance and the state government will also give Rs1 crore as assistance for procurement of software for these incubators.
“For better results, we will involve industries as well as education institutes under this policy . In August, we will organize aworkshop to spread awareness about this policy . We will also invite experts to evaluate the viability of new startups,“ added Patel. Under the earlier policy meant for manufacturing startups, over 100 startups are currently being provided assistance through18 incubators and the government is in process of identifying another 18 incubators.
The state government would also hold two major summits and a conference later this year to promote the technology-driven
startup
policy and other policies. “ A national summit on technologies will be held in the second week of August this year in which over 3,000
startups from the state will participate. We will also be calling VCs, incubators and accelerators from across the country and give them a platform to interact,“ Dhanajay Dwivedi, secretary Information Technology , Science and Technology , Services, had recently told TOI.