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Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Dated: 03 JUN 2021
Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 16 January, 2016. The initiative is intended to catalyse startup culture and build a strong and inclusive ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in India. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) acts as the nodal Department for the Startup initiative. As on June 3, 2021, 50,000 startups across have been recognized as startups by DPIIT, of which 19,896 have been recognized since April 1, 2020.
With the launch of the Startup India initiative, recognized startups have now spread across 623 districts. Each State and UT has at least one startup. 30 States and UTs have announced specific Startup Policies to support startups. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat have the greatest number of startups.
Notably, it took only 180 days to add the last 10,000 startups, as compared to 808 days for the first 10,000 at the beginning of the initiative. 743 startups were recognized in 2016-2017, in the first year of the initiative, which has now increased exponentially to over 16,000 startups being recognized in the year 2020-2021.
Entrepreneurs now have options to avail benefits across a range of laws, regulations, fiscal and infrastructural support, leading to a surge in startup ecosystem growth.
The recognized startups have contributed significantly to job creation, with 5,49,842 jobs reported by 48,093 startups with an average number of 11 employees per startup. About 1.7 lakh jobs were created by recognized startups in the 2020-2021 period alone.
The sectors that had the maximum registered startups were ‘Food Processing’, ‘Product Development’, ‘Application Development’, ‘IT Consulting’ and ‘Business Support Services’. The leadership teams of 45% startups have a women entrepreneur, a trend which will inspire more women entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into startups.
Startup India at DPIIT has played a pivotal role in strengthening the key pillars identified for our startup economy. Funding opportunities to startups have been enhanced through the Fund of Funds Scheme with an overlay of INR 10,000 crore and the recently launched Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) with an outlay of INR 945 crores.
Multiple programs conceived and implemented by DPIIT -National Startup Awards, State Ranking Framework, Global VC Summit, Prarambh: Startup India International Summit - have provided the ecosystem an opportunity to engage with multiple partners, get recognized for their contribution and showcase the work that is being done.
DPIIT will continue to engage with multiple stakeholders to address the growth opportunities and challenges in the ecosystem, helping the Indian startup ecosystem reach greater heights.
(Release ID: 1724043)
INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL
Date : 4th June, 2021
NOTICE
Subject : Launching of e-Filing Portal of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
Whilst the outbreak of COVID-19 Pandemic has posed significant challenges all over the world causing mass disruptions in all sectors, including the justice delivery systems, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has responded to such challenges in its own humble way, by rapidly adopting the supportive technologies that enabled continuation of functioning of Courts through the mode of Video Conferencing and, at times, exchange of documentation using web-based platforms in the pandemic period. In this way, we have transitioned from being primarily traditional face-to-face proceedings to online court proceedings also, an experiment which has been very successful and, I am happy to share that the ITAT has adapted to this new landscape quickly.
In furtherance to the spirit of the motto of the ITAT, i.e., ‘Nishpaksh Sulabh Satvar Nyay’ meaning, Impartial, Easy and Speedy justice, we, at ITAT, are pleased to announce for the benefit of all our stakeholders the launch of e-Filing Portal, which has been developed consequent upon the revision of Memoranda of Appeal and Cross[1] objection under the Income-tax Act, 1961 and has been extensively tested by in-house as well as by pre-identified external users and, the user-acceptance has been reported of a satisfactory level. The e-Filing Portal shall be initially soft-commissioned at Delhi Zone Headquarter with effect from 21st June, 2021, and would be gradually rolled out at all other Zonal Headquarters and other subordinate Benches across the country within a period of 4 (four) weeks thereafter.
The Practice Note regarding launch of the Portal, the detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for the guidance and understanding of the end users shall soon be available in public domain.
Sd/-
[JUSTICE P.P. BHATT]
PRESIDENT
Ministry of Finance
Dated: 01 JUN 2021
Dr. K.P. Krishnan headed expert committee on Variable Capital Company has submitted its report on the feasibility of Variable Capital Companies in the International Financial Services Centres to the Chairperson of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), Shri. Injeti Srinivas.
International Financial Services Centres Authority constituted a Committee of Experts (‘the Committee’) to examine the feasibility of the Variable Capital Company (‘VCC’) in India to examine the suitability of the Variable Capital Company as a vehicle for fund management in the International Financial Services Centre in India.
The IFSCA set up this Committee to explore the potential for allowing another legal structure – popularly known as a variable capital company (VCC) – as an additional option through which asset managers could pool the investors’ funds. The VCC structure dispenses with some of the key limitations of companies and LLPs and provides for higher regulatory standards than those applicable to trusts.
Fund management activities are an important pillar of the overall financial services ecosystem. In line with the mandate given to the Committee, it examined the relevance and adaptability of the VCC for the IFSC in India or alternative structures to attract fund business in the IFSC. Conventionally, pooling of funds in India is undertaken through three types of entities, namely, limited liability companies governed under the Companies Act, 2013; limited liability partnerships under the Limited Liability Partnership Act; and trusts governed under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882.
The Committee assessed the features of a VCC or its equivalent, in other jurisdictions such as the UK, Singapore, Ireland and Luxembourg. The Committee recommended the adoption of a VCC-like legal structure for the purpose of conducting fund management activity in IFSCs
The Committee recognized that the legal framework governing entities that undertake fund management should provide for certainty and clarity to investors, effective segregation and ring fencing of different pools of asset, the ability to issue different classes of shares, alterations to the funds’ capital structure without regulatory approvals and the freedom to choose the appropriate accounting standards applicable to funds with different characteristics, the ability to wind up quickly.
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RM/MV/KMN
(Release ID: 1723511)