The country's start-ups will attract significant foreign direct investments (FDI) in 2023 on account of steps being taken by the government to strengthen the ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs, a top government official has said.

Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Anurag Jain said India has the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world and the way start-ups here are performing; soon the country will become a top ecosystem globally.

“Number of recognized start-ups is increasing significantly and the Fund of Funds for Start-Ups (FFS) and Start-Up India Seed Fund Scheme are doing good. Start-ups too will attract significant FDI in 2023,” Jain told PTI.

Presently, India has one of the most liberalised FDI policies where very few sectors require government approval, he said.

The government with an intent to nurture innovation and start-ups and encourage private investments in the start-up ecosystem of the country launched the Start-Up India initiative on January 16, 2016.

An action plan was also laid down for start-ups. The plan comprises 19 action items spanning areas such as simplification and handholding;  funding support and incentives; and industry-academia partnership and incubation.

Under start-up India, entities are recognized by DPIIT as start-ups as per eligibility conditions. Over 84,000 entities have been recognised as start-ups from across the country as on November 30.

Under the initiative, the FFS scheme, start-up India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Start-Ups (CGSS) are implemented to provide capital at various stages of the business cycle of a start-up.

A number of Rs 7,528 crore has been committed to 93 AIFs (alternate investment funds) under FFS as on November 30. These AIFs in turn have committed investments in 773 start-ups.

Similarly, Rs 455.25 crore has been approved for 126 incubators under  SISFS, which was launched in 2021-22. About 650 start-up applications have been approved by these incubators for financial assistance as on November 30.

The CGSS has been notified in the current financial year only and is implemented on a pilot basis.

On the production-linked incentive scheme, Jain said global players are keen to avail the benefits.

“Several global firms are looking to shift their manufacturing bases to India,” he said adding the PLI schemes in 14 sectors are expected to attract investment of Rs 2.74 lakh crore.

Key sectors such as large-scale electronics manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, telecom and networking products, food processing and white goods have contributed to achieve a considerable amount of investment, production/ sales and employment, he said.