Industrial Policy department to spearhead Modi's Start-up mission

Government has assigned the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) for  'startup mission' that was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi his 2015 Independence speech, an ET report has said.

DIPP has already started consultation with various stakeholders like IITs, IIMs, Flipkart, Snapdeal and others. 

A government official told ET that DIPP was chosen for the mission because it has the potential to create an ecosystem for startups. 

Experts have appreciated the government's focus to evolve the startup businesses, however, they believe that the project should have gone to the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship (MSDE).

They said that startups were not industrial policy, adding that choosing DIPP will result in further confusion on the nodal agency for startups. 

The government however, defended its decision saying that DIPP was chosen because it was better equipped than the skill development ministry to handle the initiative.

Earlier, the government had mandated the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises for various small businesses programs. The MSDE is already spearheading the Skill India mission, another flagship project under 'Make in India'.

Also, the report said that MSDE administers a Rs 10,000 crore start-up fund-of-fund, and recently has started working on the entrepreneurship development  program along with two national level institutes.