Allocation to SIDBI out of startup funds down at Rs 100 cr in FY17

New Delhi: The government said on Monday that the allocation to SIDBI out of Funds of Funds for Startups (FFS) has come down to Rs 100 crore in FY17 from Rs 500 crore in the previous fiscal.

The government had established Rs 10,000 crore FFS to meet the financial needs of startups. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is the monitoring agency, while Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is the operating agency for the FFS.

"Rs 500 crore has been released to SIDBI in FY16 and Rs 100 crore in FY 17 out of Fund of Funds for startups," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. He said that total commitments under FFS stand at Rs 1,285.7 crore to 27 Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs).

"142 startups have received funding under FFS with catalysed investment of Rs 602.60 crore," he added. Total amount of the scheme is to be released over two Finance Commission cycles, that is, by the year 2025.

Chaudhary also said that for incubation and funding support more than 550 startups have been mentored, 2.2 lakh registrations have been done and over one lakh queries have been handled by the Startup India Hub as of June. Under the 'Start-up India Action Plan', the government announced incentives, including tax holiday and inspector raj- free regime, besides capital gains tax exemption and Rs 10,000 crore corpus to fund them.