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New Delhi: Startups received over $147 billion in funding between 2016 and 2014, which has resulted in creation of over 16 lakh jobs, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said on Friday.
Addressing a media briefing DPIIT Secretary Amardeep Singh Bhatia said the removal of ‘angel tax’ has helped in strengthening the startup ecosystem in the country.
“The report we are getting is that startups are returning to India. Angel tax (removal) is one issue that has helped bring some startups,” Bhatia said.
In the union budget presented in July 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced abolition of angel tax, which was introduced in 2012. The angel tax refers to the tax imposed on excess capital raised over fair market value.
DPIIT Joint Secretary Sanjiv Singh said funding to startups, which stood at $8 billion in 2016, increased to $155 billion by the end of 2024 calendar year. The funding data is post 2014. This means the funding of $8 billion was during the 2014-16 period. The central government launched the Startup India initiative in January 2016.
The number of startups jumped from 400 in 2016 to over 157,000 in 2024. The number of jobs created by startups increased from around 44,000 in 2016 to over 17 lakh in 2016, the DPIIT data showed.
According to the DPIIT Secretary, several countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Switzerland and Japan have expressed interests to engage with India's startups. Bhatia said these countries may make investment in Indian startups through their sovereign wealth funds.