NASSCOM urges the Govt. to set up a ₹500-crore Technology Entrepreneurship Fund

Nasscom has urged the new government at centre to release Rs. 500 Crore in funds in the current budget to set up a Technology Entrepreneur Mission (TEM). There is an urgent need to look into the infrastructure and funding issues for start-up companies in India and this new mission would cater to that.

According to Nasscom President R Chandrasekhar, 80 percent of the US $118 billion industry is being represented by less than 200 companies presently, while the rest are more than 15,000 companies which are mostly small, medium and start-ups.

The Nasscom President further added that the funds collected from TEM can be used to make seed investments in start-ups, to set up incubators at educational institutes, to develop infrastructure in small cities and for skill development purposes.

There is an urgent need to woo the Indian origin entrepreneurs working in the US, the UK, Canada and Singapore to come back and make India as their base. This can be done by providing them with the same or even better opportunities and environment that is provided to them in these countries. The Technology Entrepreneurship mission has an aim of doing that.

This method of attracting entrepreneurs and companies to their respective countries is very famous all around the globe. The government needs to approve this mission if it wants to send out a strong signal that it recognizes the importance of this segment in the growth of the economy and country.

According to Chandrasekhar, the taxes levied on the angel investors needs to be reviewed as the investments made by them are often risky in nature. The IT-ITeS industry can grow by 13 to 15% according to him in this fiscal year.

All these discussions took place at the Nasscom Big Data Summit in Hyderabad. Nasscom which represents services and product-based software companies in India is working hard by lobbying with the government at centre to part-fund start-ups which have a promising idea at the initial stage so that the entrepreneurs can work towards their idea rather than worrying about the funds or finances.

Nasscom has proposed that both the industry and the government can become a part of the Technology Entrepreneur Mission and collectively look into the issues and problems of the entrepreneurial ecosystem on a regular basis.