Bihar, Andhra Pradesh among states with emerging start-up ecosystems: Govt ranking

Seems like the Indian start-up ecosystem is far from slowing down as Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Ladakh are the states that have an emerging start-up ecosystem, as per the States' Start-ups Ranking 2021 released by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal earlier on Monday.   

The States’ Start-ups Ranking 2021 focuses on seven reform areas—institutional support, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, access to market, incubation support, funding support, mentorship support and capacity building of enablers. 

Highlights of start-up policies of Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Ladakh

Some of the highlights from Bihar government’s start-up policy include devising a policy to support innovation potential, launching specific initiatives for new and disruptive sectors and the Bihar Chief Minister Mahila Udyami Yojana, meant to support women entrepreneurship via financial assistance.  

Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, was recognised for building a start-up portal with access to information about all start-ups located in the state and organising exposure and knowledge sessions to encourage the ecosystem.   

The Mizoram government supported innovations to tide over coronavirus, built a springboard for emerging and early-stage entrepreneurs and provided strong incubation support for start-ups.   

Ladakh created a mechanism to enable students, researchers and entrepreneurs to access research, established a Student Start-up Innovation Fund to inculcate entrepreneurial spirit among students and dedicated support to start-ups via mentorship.   

Other states too figure in the States’ Start-up 2021 ranking

However, Gujarat, Karnataka and Meghalaya were categorised as best performers. As per this ranking, states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir made it to the top performers section. Leaders include Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Punjab.   

Eleven states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Chandigarh, Nagaland, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Manipur, Tripura and Puducherry made it to the aspiring leaders category.   

How is this ranking collated?

The ranking is collated by the Commerce Ministry's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) by combining information on the start-up ecosystem in 24 states and seven union territories (UTs), as per a government release dated July 1.    

The rankings also factor in the initiatives taken to develop start-up ecosystem and promote upcoming entrepreneurs.  States are ranked as best performers, top performers, leaders, aspiring leaders and emerging start-up ecosystems.   

The exercise was launched in 2018 with an aim to encourage states and UTs to ease regulations for the growth of start-ups and strengthening the support of start-up ecosystem.