India would design to bring entrepreneurs, innovators and investors at a township of up to 500 acres. The benefit of this would be that they can access very important resources, advisors, and facilities all under one roof.
Recently Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal proposed a Russian Startup model for India in order to support the growth of India’s start-ups and unicorns. As has been stated by the Union Minister, this model will bring a Russian flavor in the ecosystem of startups in the country. This will give them infrastructure and all other essentials. Dedicated townships in Russia are proving to be very helpful in developing such startups. India also took up this initiative by adopting this model. Let’s know what the Russian model of startup is.
Russian Startup Model
According to Mint, the government constructs separate townships in Russia. Some of the townships include the Skolkovo Innovation Center near Moscow, Zhigulevsk Valley Tech-nopark in the Samara region, Innopolis near Kazan (in Tatarstan), and Akademgorodok near Novosibirsk in Siberia. According to Mint, in Russia, space is offered to the startups after registration with the government, and the space can be either hired or bought by the startups. The presence of ideal space in an industrial and startup area and that too on cheap rates reduces the burden on the small enterprises. It was this model that let the Russian startups flourish and showed opportunities. There are more than 21,500 such startups in Russia.
What Are Plans In India?
The country also has plans for townships of up to 500 acres to bring all the stake-holding entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors into one platform. The integrated township shall have easy and conducive access to all resources, advisors, and facilities all in one roof. The NICDC will develop the townships. The government also approved the development of 12 industrial smart cities in 10 states.
Possible Locations From Startup Townships
The Startup townships would be set up by the Central government near the existing hubs like Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai as they are major and established centers of technological and entrepreneurial activity. It is also expected that the initiative would also foster synergy between experienced entrepreneurs and emerging startups. There are meetings in place in association with the DPIIT, IIT Madras and Bombay, and industry bodies.
Also read: India-Nepal Friendship: A Pillar For Development, Asserts Piyush Goyal
Startup India program
The government has claimed that more than 1,46,000 startups have succeeded under the Startup India program launched by it in 2016. The centre has some of the digital platforms which are Startup India Investor Connect Portal, National Mentorship Portal MAARG (Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, Growth), Startup India Showcase and Startup India Seed Fund. India is important for the fact that it ranks third in the world to host the maximum number of startups after the US and China.
