Thread by @abandopa

Reporting from the ground.

I am associated with the startup ecosystem for last SEVEN years. Undeniably, this government has done a tremendous job of front loading the startup economy. More funds are available and the ecosystem building is in full swing. 1/n

The effort is being led by @IndiaDST and its associated organs and @BIRAC_2012. The officials in these organizations are working overtime to make the lives of young wannabe entrepreneurs easier. Many PSUs are also joining hands. 2/n

@IndiaDST @BIRAC_2012 Thus prototypes and products are being developed at a rapid pace. However, it is not yielding the end result i.e. creation of jobs. In this thread I provide some pointers based on my experience. 3/n

@IndiaDST @BIRAC_2012 Any entrepreneur who is making product(s) whose deployment is dependent upon govt procurement, particularly state govts (i.e. sectors that come under state list), is not getting frustrated. 4/n

@IndiaDST @BIRAC_2012 Infrastructure products:

The startups are not being able to bid for govt projects for (1) they do not, by definition, have the credentials to show for AND/OR (2) agencies are not patronizing new technologies. As a result they are forced to work on sub-contract ....

@IndiaDST @BIRAC_2012 with much bigger private players. In the process they are risking their Intellectual Property which is the USP of any tech startup. 5/n

@IndiaDST @BIRAC_2012 Drones:

On one hand there is constant encouragement to develop drones for a variety of purposes. Indeed deployment of drones will provide tremendous advantage in many sectors. However, govt clearance for drone operations are not coming through. 6/n

@IndiaDST @BIRAC_2012 Health care and Agri Sector:

Deployment requires liberal govt procurement policies that are startup friendly. There should be proactive procurement from startups by the government. However, this is not happening. Startups with brilliant products are getting frustrated, 7/n

@IndiaDST @BIRAC_2012 COMPLIANCE and its hassles:

Startups are an afraid lot. Particularly the startups that I interact with are fresh graduates they know technology really well but doesn't understand compliance well. Every month some or the other compliance needs to be met......

@IndiaDST @BIRAC_2012 These young companies don't have the resources (expertise) to act on so many fronts and so frequently that are unrelated to their core competence - technology development.

Compliance for startups should be centralized i.e. there should be one portal where they would upload....

@IndiaDST @BIRAC_2012 all data which will be accessible to all agencies and all compliance issues can be mitigated in a single window operation. 9/n

@IndiaDST @BIRAC_2012 There is plenty of evidence that startups create more job for money invested than established enterprises. Govt is doing gr8 in promoting product development but needs to do more for promoting their business. 10/10

@PMOIndia @PMOIndia @nsitharaman @PiyushGoyal @amitabhk87

@IndiaDST @BIRAC_2012 typo - "........is getting frustrated"