Central government to prefer startup products

By Raaghav G R

Posted on August 19, 2017

In a move that would give a shot in the arm to the startups in India, the Central Government announced today (19/08/2017) that the Government of India would give preference to the products made by the startups in India in government contracts. Prior to this announcement, the startups in India were competing with established players in the contracts and had faced stringent eligibility criteria before they could participate in government contracts. This led to a lot of startups in India not participating in government contracts and this, in turn, led to stifling of innovation and innovative ideas being implemented in government projects. This announcement today was made by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union minister for electronics & information technology and law & justice as part of Narendra Modi’s Start up India Stand up India scheme, which is meant to fund, promote and insulate the startups in India. This move will allow innovative ideas of startups to be implemented in government projects, thereby solving long – standing critical issues. Read more on the Government of India.

“This is just the beginning of the hand holding process of the government for startups. The money will not be a problem”, said Prasad.

Mr. Prasad also said that the government will give 100,000 or more data sets of citizen –   related information to Indian startups to be used for innovation on a license but without them having to pay a fee. The government will also give a Challenge Grant of Rs. 5 crores each, for startups innovating in the fields of health, agriculture and cyber security, Prasad said.

“Whatever help we can do as the government, we would be delighted to do. We would like to partner with startups’ initiatives”, Piyush Goyal, Union minister of state for power, coal, renewable energy and mines said.

“We would like to support your efforts, be a part of this new ecosystem, learn from you what can be done better, engage with you and your ideas to achieve the vision of a new India”, Mr. Goyal added.

Today’s innovation is tomorrow’s solution. That’s what I believe. India is a country full of intelligent, hard – working and innovative youth who mostly work for the startups in India. If the startups in India are allowed to implement their innovative solutions in government projects, it would solve long standing critical issues like drinking water scarcity, linking of national rivers, poor infrastructure in cities, unemployment, underemployment, etcetera. It is heartening to see the government of India take positive steps in this direction. Read more on Startup News

Central government to prefer startup products