Delhi Chief Minister Arvind kejriwal
With an aim to accelerate growth of startups in the capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday kicked off a consultation process to draft a new policy with industry leaders and young entrepreneurs. He also referred to “brilliant minds” from India going abroad and the need to provide opportunities for them here instead. The objective of the draft policy, the government said, is to support entrepreneurs and build a robust economic and policy infrastructure that will create new jobs.
The pandemic and the associated lockdown has put strain on the capital’s economy, and the government has over the past few weeks been trying to push through measures to fix the situation — from a new job portal to writing to the L-G to reopen hotels and gyms. Outlining the process of drafting the policy, a government official said the consultation will be in two stages — seeking inputs from top leaders of the industry, entrepreneurs and policy experts, followed by invitation of public opinion.
“Following this, the Delhi government will soon release a draft startup policy and launch an online forum to seek inputs from the general public on it. This will give the policy a fresh perspective and cement Delhi government’s commitment to delivering results through teamwork and unity,” said the Delhi government in a statement.
In a tweet, Kejriwal said: “Had a very fruitful session with industry leaders about promoting startups in Delhi and creating a healthy environment for young entrepreneurs.”
The industry leaders include Ajai Chowdhry (co-founder, HCL), Rajan Anandan (MD, Sequoia Capital), Padmaja Ruparel (co-founder, Indian Angel Network), Sriharsha Majety (co-founder and CEO, Swiggy), Farid Ahsan (co-founder, ShareChat), Suchita Salwan (founder and CEO, Little Black Book), Tarun Bhalla (founder, Avishkaar) and Riyaaz Amlani (CEO & MD, Impresario Handmade Restaurants).
The chief minister highlighted that at over 7,000, Delhi has the highest number of active startups in the country. He added that the valuation of the city’s startups is about $50 billion. “Right since my IIT days, I have seen some of the most brilliant minds from India go abroad looking for better opportunities. I believe Indians are the smartest entrepreneurs in the world and all they need is the right opportunity and the right conditions to help them thrive. With this startup policy, we aim to make Delhi one of the top five global destinations for startups,” said Kejriwal.
Anandan of Sequoia Capital said “the discussion was very good with many ideas on what it will take Delhi’s startup ecosystem to the next level”.
Amlani said, “Timely measures provided by the Delhi government would mean we can defeat the financial effects of Covid and come out even stronger.”