Startup India Gets A Budget Cut, No Dearth Of Funds Says DPIIT’s Ramesh Abhishek

Though the interim finance minister, Piyush Goyal, touted India’s startup ecosystem, as arguably the second largest in the world, the Union Budget 2019-20 has reduced the funds allocated to government’s ambitious Startup India programme by INR 3 Cr ($418.4K). According to the budget documents, the government, in this year’s budget, reduced the allocated amount to INR 25 Cr ($3.4 Mn) from the revised estimate of INR 28 Cr ($3.9 Mn) in FY19, PTI reported. On the other hand, the much-debated Angel Tax issue, that levies a 30.9% cut of any angel investment raised by startups, too, didn’t find the mention in the budget. The latest survey by the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA) and online citizen engagement platform Local Circles found that 70% of startups that raised capital have received one or more tax notices over the last few months.