Despite the State government’s major thrust to Information Technology (IT) initiatives, Kerala has been ranked only ninth in the total number of recognised start-ups in the country.
Figures released by the Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry show that Kerala has 849 recognised start-ups as of June 2019. In the Statewise investment made by Alternative Investment Funds under the Funds For Start-ups (FFS), the State fares badly by getting investments of ₹10.87 crore for eight companies. Unfortunately, Kerala is ranked 11th below West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab in this segment.
Maharashtra has 3,661 recognised start-ups leading the position in the country since the Start-up India initiative was launched in January 2016.
19,351 start-ups
As of now, India has 19,351 start-ups recognised by the DPIIT. The Centre has established the FFS with a corpus of ₹10,000 crore, to meet the funding needs of start-ups. The DPIIT is the monitoring agency and the Small Industries Development Bank of India is the operating agency for the FFS, according to the Ministry.
Kerala is among 26 States that have notified and operational start-up policies. The State government has been on the drive for the expansion of the IT industry in all the districts. Thiruvananthapuram (Technopark), Kochi (Infopark) and Kozhikode (Cyberpark) act as hubs and the remaining districts as spokes.
