Startup CEOs seek ease of doing business

As the government steps up its efforts to make India another hub for high-growth startups, entrepreneurs feel that the government should work on creating a favourable environment for startups in the country by relaxing archaic regulations in direct and indirect taxes, allow easy flow of capital and a complimentary public private ecosystem.

In his Mann ki Baat programme on All India Radio on December 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that he will launch Start-up India Stand Up India — announced in his August 15 Independence Day speech — on January 16.

Elaborating further, the Prime Minister had said that the initiative was not just about the IT or digital world, but an effort to assist people starting new business ventures, especially those that involved innovation.

Speaking to this newspaper, Rajeev Pathak, CEO & founder of Funtoot an online learning aid, wants the government to relax income-tax laws to attract more startups to set up base in the country.

Currently, several major startups have got their register office in Singapore to avail tax benefits offered by the island country among others.

“We are the only country where if a startup raises money more than its fair value, it has to pay taxes against the money raised,” he said.

Shekhar A. Bhattach-arjee, the founder of SkillTree Knowledge Consortium, expects a resolution to issues that are commonly faced while setting up a firm.

“Currently, the common problems faced by the startups include, lack of access to funds, shortage of skilled manpower, and red tape among others delaying the projects,” he said.

The key ingredients needed for Mr Modi’s goal to make India the startup capital of the world is to have a great ecosystem such as demand, disposable incomes, technology adoption, mobile penetration, market size and, of course, investor appetite are all pointing in the right direction, said SaurabhTondon, COO, BetterPlace Safety Solutions.

Ashwin Jayasanker, country head of Wego.com, a travel search engine, says “To create an opportunity for success with many startups, bank financing and job creation go a long way to encourage entrepreneurship and employ necessary talent.”

According to Sudarshan Purohit, co-founder of Zenify, a complete rental solution for tenants and owners, the fund raising process should be made easy and short. He would also like the government to cut red tape in departments like service tax, police, and housing regulatory authorities. Fundamentally, he said, “there are a lot of delays from such departments which really affect the progress.”