Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh have been ranked as ‘best performers’ along with previous year’s best states Gujarat and Karnataka as the states with the best "start-up" friendly ecosystems in 2022.
The just released State Start-up Ranking Framework (SRF) 2022 results, prepared by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is assessed on the basis of the performance of States and Union Territories in seven reform areas spread across 25 action points. These areas include institutional support, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, access to market, incubation and mentorship support, funding support, capacity building of enablers and roadmap to a sustainable future. The ranking of States is done after two rounds of evaluation of the documentary evidence submitted by States / UTs and feedback collected from the ecosystem beneficiaries.
While Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Gujarat were categorised as "best performers" in the Category A States (with over 1 crore population), Himachal Pradesh was the only “best performer” among the Category B States (less than 1 crore population).
The “top performers” in SRF 2022 are Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan and Telangana in Category A and Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya in Category B. While Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa Manipur and Tripura are in the next level, the ‘leader’ category, Bihar, Haryana, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Nagaland are in the ‘aspiring leader’ category.
Other States and UTs, Chhattisgarh Delhi Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Ladakh. Mizoram, Puducherry and Sikkim are in the ‘emerging ecosystems’ category of ranking.
Institutional Support, the first among the seven reform area that is considered for ranking the States focuses on the facilitation and execution of the State's/UT’s Startup policy through a comprehensive user-friendly portal and specific incentives provided by various Government stakeholders. It analyses whether a particular State/UT has a functional startup portal offering single window solutions for all startup ecosystem stakeholders.
The second reform area ‘fostering innovation and entrepreneurship’, seeks to encourage the spirit of innovation among aspiring entrepreneurs with a focus on student entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs from higher education institutions (HEIs) and women entrepreneurs. It focuses not only on the assessment of the total number of registered startups in each State/UT, but also on the regulatory reforms undertaken to support startups in diverse sectors. This Reform Area assesses the extent to which Higher Educational Institutes (HEIs) have been engaged in providing support to student entrepreneurs. It also highlights the value of innovation and entrepreneurship for students as well as aspiring women entrepreneurs.
The third area of reform, ‘access to market’, seeks to encourage the State/UT Government to increase participation in the public procurement process for startups and become an enabler in providing the opportunities to startups in the domestic and international market. The States/UTs are evaluated based on their support to startups through the organization of showcase opportunities such as Demo-Day, Buyer-Seller Meet, National and International Events, and relaxation in criteria for Government work orders.
The ‘Incubation and Mentorship support ‘ reform paramer measures efforts by the State/UT Government in facilitating mentorship to startups. This has been assessed by the number of startups benefitting from the State’s/UT’s network of mentors. The ‘funding support’ parameter encourages various State/UT Governments to establish either new Seed or Venture funds or Fund of Funds for startups or continue supporting the existing ones. It also focuses on the access to these funds established by the State/UT Government. The ‘Capacity building of key stakeholders and enablers’ parameter assesses sensitisation workshops, programs conducted for Government officials, and workshops conducted to train State-supported incubators. It also focuses on the capacity development of potential private investors to encourage local private investments.
The seventh reform parameter ’Roadmap to a Sustainable Future’ gauges the support given to promote spirit of innovation in rural startups, and also promotion of sectors like renewable energy, sustainability, and climate change with an emphasis given to Startups working on Circular Economy.
