This year, the government of India has made significant changes to the startup environment in the country. The Government is serious about improving India’s ranking in “Ease of Doing Business” from a low rank of 130 to 103. The low ease of doing business ranking obtained by India is due to multiple factors, primarily one of them being the fact that it used to take more than 2 weeks to start a business in India.
On Republic Day, 26th January 2018, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs introduced ground breaking reforms by drastically reducing the stamp duty for new company registration across India. The stamp duties are a big impediment to starting up and this reduction has boosted entrepreneurship in India as more than 11,000 new private and public companies and LLP Partnership Firms are now being formed in India every month. The efforts of the Government have given a huge boost to the entrepreneurial ecosystem and this is bound to improve India’s ranking seriously in the Ease of Doing Business survey in 2018.
As an Entrepreneur wanting to startup, what are the changes that I should know about?
Lots of changes have been implemented in 2018 by Government of India. Primarily, the following 5 STEPS have been taken by the government to help startups and boost entrepreneurship in India:
- Easy to Startup – The Government has reduced the stamp duty for new company registration and made it easier for them to startup by removing the need for notarized documents and other hassles. Now, a startup can be registered in 7 to 10 working days online, without leaving their office.
- Reduced Costs – Earlier it used to cost anywhere starting from Rs. 15000 to startup and register your private limited company. Now, after 26th January, the costs has come down to as low as Rs. 7500/- total including DIN, DSC, MOA, AOA, Stamp Duty, Professional Fee, GST and taxes. Check out few startup packages available here
- Easy to obtain licenses – For many years, India was under the heavy burden of “license raj” and it was extremely difficult to obtain licenses from starting a business such as Forest Department clearance, Food and water ministry clearance and other essential licenses. The Government is working on a single window license system that is proposed to make life easier for startups to register.
- Cheaper to apply for Trademark – The Government has reduced the fees for trademark search and application for new startups and sole proprietor firms from Rs. 9000 to Rs. 4500. Thus it is now possible to protect your brand name and register your trademark from as low as Rs. 7000/-
- Access to Funds – The government has launched the Fund of Funds under SIDBI and the Mudra Yojana under which many startups have started to get access to cheap capital to start and grow their business. Although the numbers are low, this is expected to pick up considering that Union Elections are around the corner in 2019, and the onus is on the government to support entrepreneurs to create jobs and boost the Indian economy in every possible way.
In addition to the above, many more small steps have been taken to boost entrepreneurship in India. We are witnessing rapid technological, workspace and cultural evolution in India. And it is high time the Government and Bureaucracy take all necessary steps to help entrepreneurs who are the life blood of the economy as they provide jobs and bring in much needed foreign capital. All the best for your business venture!!
