Youth approaching Centre to set up startups in northeast: Minister

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) An increasing number of youngsters from across India are approaching the Central government to set up startups in the northeastern states under the Startup India and Standup India programme, Union DoNER Minister Jitendra Singh said on Friday.

"Any youngster who decides to set up startups in the northeast will in addition to all the provisions available in the government programme will also get initial venture capital fund from the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, so that they do not have any financial liability," Singh said at the inauguration of the Assocham World Entrepreneurs Day Summit.

The minister also said that the government is building necessary infrastructure to promote northeastern states as a favorite destination for startup ventures in the country.

Also terming the 'Startup India, Standup India' programme as the most unique in the world as it offers unprecedented incentives like three years of tax holiday and three months of exit period, he said it is due to the government's efforts that a big headway had been made and the entrepreneurship potential of India which was not being realised earlier at any level of the society is now being realised.

"That kind of milieu has been provided by the present government as the aptitudes were there but motivation was lacking.. perhaps infrastructural difficulties were there," he said.

He also said that a reverse brain drain has been happening in India during the course of past couple of years.

"You must have realised that as a result of proactive outreach by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is not only the foreign investors who are now looking up to India as a destination.. many of those who had left India in search of green pastures and settled abroad are now looking forward to opportunities to return," Singh said.

"This is the phenomenon that I have observed only in the last 2-3 years.

"So this itself is a very impartial evidence of the kind of change in the business atmosphere which is being witnessed in India and I am sure in the years to come this country is going to be one of the most attractive destinations for startups and entrepreneurs," he added.

He also said that India has visibly risen so far as entrepreneurship was concerned. "We have challenges of population, infrastructure, heterogeneity and accessibility but what is heartening is that in last three years, there has been a honest, sincere and sustained effort to overcome even these hassles."