Government seeking consulting firm for Startup India project
India’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is looking to boost its support of the vibrant startup environment, and is seeking a consulting firm to help with the process. The body has invited requests for proposals (RFP) from firms that are interested.
According to the notice, DPIIT “proposes to engage a consultancy organisation to provide support… for a period of three years, extendable one year at a time for a total duration of five years, to assist and support the department in effective and on-ground implementation of Startup India Action Plan.”
Startup India is a government scheme launched in 2015 that is aimed at ensuring that India’s vibrant startup environment reaches its potential. The scheme develops initiatives to support startups in various phases of their growth, ranging from the ideation phase to funding, all the way to industry partnerships and incubation.
The scheme also facilitates partnerships between the startup landscape and the academic environment in India. The appointed consultant will not only support with the implementation of these initiatives, but will also be tasked with devising growth strategies for the Startup India scheme.
The DPIIT is looking to upscale its scheme to meet the needs of a startup environment that is fast emerging as a globally competitive hub. A majority of Indian startups operate in the tech space, and experts have suggested that the market is becoming comparable to Silicon Valley in its scale.
Major global investors have entered the Indian market to capitalise on this environment, further boosting the market’s role in the global tech ecosystem.
Big Four accounting and advisory firm KPMG recently reported that India was the second most disruptive tech market in the world, tied with China and behind only the US. The firm also placed Bengaluru among the top 10 tech innovation hubs in the world outside of Silicon Valley.
Funding for startups in India is on a steady upward trajectory, with Bain & Company recently reporting that tech startups are a major contributor to growth in India’s private equity sector, which recently reached its highest ever value.
