Over 9% of the total registered startups across India are based in Uttar Pradesh, according to official data from the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industries. The information, shared by Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada in the Rajya Sabha, revealed that the number of startups in India has surpassed 1.4 lakh.
Prasada mentioned that Maharashtra leads with 25,044 registered startups, followed by Karnataka with 15,019, Delhi with 14,734, Uttar Pradesh with 13,299, and Gujarat with 11,436. The minister emphasized various government initiatives aimed at nurturing and supporting the startup ecosystem, including the Startup India initiative launched in January 2016.
The Startup India Action Plan focuses on simplification, handholding, funding support, incentives, and industry-academia partnership and incubation. In addition, the government introduced the ‘Startup India: The Way Ahead’ scheme to promote ease of doing business, leverage technology, build stakeholder capacities, and enable a digital Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
To address monetary needs, the government established the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) oversees the monitoring, while the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) operates the scheme with funding planned over the 14th and 15th Finance Commission cycles.
These initiatives underscore the government’s commitment to fostering innovation, supporting startups, and creating a conducive environment for entrepreneurship across the country, with Uttar Pradesh emerging as a notable hub for startup growth.