JOIN USThe Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS) under the Department of Information Technology, and Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, has announced the launch of the Karnataka Startup Policy 2015-2020.
KBITS General Manager K N Praveen discussed various benefits that will be made available to startups, at a meeting organised by IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India) and Mobile 10X, IAMAI’s app development programme, in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Startup Cell
“To facilitate the implementation of the various strategies under the startup policy, the Government of Karnataka has created the Karnataka Startup Cell,” he said. Addressing a gathering of about 100 members from the startup community, he said, startups incubated in incubators supported by the state government, whose annual turnover does not exceed Rs 50 lakh for the first three years or till it becomes DST certified, will be eligible for reimbursement of service tax, VAT/CST.
Further, the state government would match the fund raised by the incubator from the Centre on a 1:1 basis. Within the startup policy, the government has also allowed for reimbursement of 30% of the actual costs incurred on international marketing.
For facilitation under the programme, a startup should be technology-based, registered in Karnataka under the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1961, and should employ 50% of its total qualified workforce in Karnataka, he said, defining startups.
The startup must not have been registered/incorporated for more than four years and seven years in the case of BT companies.