Gujarat: State retains top rank in Central govt’s startup rankings

Officials mentioned as “state champions” during the announcement include Additional Chief Secretary (Industries and Mines) Manoj Kumar Das, Principal Secretary (Education) Anju Sharma, Secretary (Science and Technology) Hareet Shukla and Industries Commissioner Rahul Gupta. The award was announced in an e-programme organised by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal; Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Som Parkash. While Gujarat was ranked as the best performer, Karnataka and Kerala were awarded as the “top performers” among participants comprising 22 states and three union territories.

Receiving the award, Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said, “With the constant guidance, patronage and leadership of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Gujarat has retained its number one rank for startups. This result is reflective of the state government’s persistent efforts for the last five years to not just support startups, but to also encourage the creation of new startups and innovations.”

Among various initiatives taken by the state government to support startups, innovations and entrepreneurs include the Student Startup and Innovation Policy (SSIP), spearheaded by the state education department. The policy extends financial grants to support student innovators and startups. SSIP has benefited 137 institutions and led to 671 Intellectual Property filings, 3,472 proofs of concept, 817 startups, 109 pre-incubation labs and 47 fab labs till date.

Anju Sharma said, “In the citation for Gujarat as announced during the ceremony, the state was deemed to be an “awareness and outreach champion”. The result emphasises on the success of models implemented by the state government for extending end-to-end support to the ecosystem and addressing the issues for all levels of the startup ecosystem pipeline.”