Start-up India action plan: This is what healthcare sector expects from PM Modi

The start-up industry is looking forward to seeing what the Modi government puts on the table as its first Start Up action plan. 

To get inputs from the best in the industry, stakeholders of the government, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant, Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, and more, are going to interact with CEOs and entrepreneurs before the start-up plan is laid out. 

We spoke to a few start-ups in the healthcare arena to get a sense of what they want from the government to help business. Here's what they said.

BigChemist.com 

The start-up action plan will help creative and path-breaking technology in India and will help new ideas come to life, Puneet Kapoor, Director BigChemist.com told dna. 

From the start-up action plan, he expects the government "to ensure the availability of capital across segments in a transparent manner, a clear entry and exit for companies, and a road map on how entities can sustain if they happen to run out of allocated capital or are not cash positive."

According to Kapoor, access to cheap capital, complex company laws and the costs for start ups are major pain areas. "Currently, there is no protection against bankruptcy for risk takers". 

Care24, a technology company for health management

Vipin Pathak, CEO and the Co-founder, of Care24 told dna, “We’re excited, along with the entire start-up community, about the government’s Start Up India initiative.

"I would personally welcome favourable regulatory changes like insurance coverage, taxation and government push which would further boost the healthcare sector's growth.”

Fitastik.com - Online medical records

According to Sanjay Lakhotia, Founder & Director, Fitastik.com, "Some of the truly great innovations have not seen the light of the day due to lack of money and a platform to showcase  themselves. The government's new initiative will provide a much needed boost to these entrepreneurs and foster an environment of disruptive innovation in the country."

Lybrate - Find a doctor online

Saurabh Arora, CEO, Lybrate told dna, "The start-up action plan is a commendable effort from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make the start-up ecosystem inclusive and conducive. It will definitely encourage those who have innovative ideas to pursue them and not shun (them) for want of clarity and support.

"We are looking forward to the action plan. As a player in healthcare sector, we want to work closely with the government and create a cohesive partnership to help further its effort of making healthcare available to every citizen of the country. Our vision is in line with the government and we welcome open discourses with the government to digitise healthcare in India,” Arora said.

Through the Start Up action plan, Arora said that he expects the government to simplify tax structure, ease regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles for doing business in the country, facilitate frequent open discussions with government departments, and create one-window system for startups for anything related to their business.

myCol - Personalised healthcare assistance 

This Delhi-based start-up's co-founder and CEO, Vaibhav Singh told dna, “Access to initial risk capital remains one of the biggest challenges for new start-ups. While it is the responsibility of the entrepreneur, it must be appreciated that some of the new guidelines in place which relate to share issuance, valuation, floor price, discounted cash flow, and so on, create challenges for entrepreneurs as they set out to raise the initial few rounds of capital and have to build out the capital structure."

"Certain relaxation are required for companies in the first year of their incorporation so that they do not attract the stringent provision of the new Companies Act regarding share issuance. This will help protect the entrepreneur’s interest."

HealthEnablr 

There are a lot of gaps in the healthcare technology space, Bamasish Paul, co-founder of HealthEnablr told dna. "The government should encourage setting up of healthcare technology start ups in a big way, which is only possible if special tax incentives are offered to investors investing in this space".

Second co-founder, Avishek Mukherjee told dna, "To bridge the gap between quality healthcare in urban and semi-urban/rural areas, governments should incentivise healthcare-tech and startups by giving them access to existing public infrastructure like government hospitals and healthcare programmes."