Will turn Delhi into global start-up hub, says CM Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Start-ups will be provided with world-class infrastructure in the national capital after the rollout of start-up policy, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday. Speaking at The Ind-US Entrepreneurs (TiE) Global Summit, Kejriwal said his government is making all efforts in building a comprehensive framework and turning Delhi into a global start-up destination. 

“As part of the start-up policy, the government plans to provide collateral-free loans and set up a dedicated helpline for start-ups to address their concerns and help them use government’s doorstep service. The Delhi government is taking unprecedented short and long-term steps to ensure start-ups have access to the best quality human capital in Delhi itself,” said the chief minister said.

According to a September 2019 TiE report, there are over 7,000 start-ups in the Delhi-NCR region. This makes Delhi as the region with the highest number of active start-ups in the country. It is estimated that the valuation of the city’s start-ups is about 50 billion dollars, Kejriwal added.

The Delhi government is also setting up a business park in Rani Khera area on a 150-acre land. This will be a few minutes away from the Delhi airport. This will be the first-of-its-kind establishment, he said. 
“The region has also produced about 13 unicorns such as PayTM, Oyo and Zomato.

At least one new unicorn has been emerging each year since 2013. Between January and June 2020, 109 start-ups were founded in Delhi-NCR — the highest in the first six months of 2020 in India,” Kejriwal said.  “Delhi’s economy whas been badly hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many businesses are struggling to stay afloat and many people have lost their jobs. We want to create all the necessary conditions for businesses, and especially, startups to flourish,” he said.