For Electronics Startups Govt Launches Electronic Departmnent Fund

At a recent event held in a Mumbai hotel, the Electronics and Information Technology Department announced the launch of Electronics Department Fund (EDF). The Fund can be seen as Modi government's effort to actively promote and support the electronics design and manufacturing sector in the country. The event also saw Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, giving out the very first letter of commitment to a group of Daughter Funds.

The Electronics Department Fund was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 1st, 2015 during the inauguration of the Digital India Week. Further, the search for the Fund Manager for the EDF came to an end on September 4th, 2015 with Canbank Venture Capital Fund Pvt. Ltd. (CVCFL) making the cut. March 31st, 2016 has been set as the deadline for applicants seeking funding to file their participation.

The technological world is advancing at an unprecedented rate. As you read this article, it is changing and becoming better and bigger with each passing second. In order to keep pace with these changes, the IT sector requires constant research and development. The policy book for EDF clearly reads that, "Intellectual Property is possibly the most critical differentiator and determinant of success for a technology company."The sector is central to the growth of every other sector of the economy in the country and therefore is of significance importance.

Catering to this need, the government of India has branded the EDF as a "Funds of Funds" that will look after the constant need of Research and Development and innovation in technology. The EDF will not only help in supporting the Daughter Funds which in return will result in providing risk capital to the companies who are developing new technologies, but it will also help in getting the attention of angel funds, seed funds and venture funds to the desired areas.

The Modi government which took charge of the office in May 2014 is focused on empowering the Indian country digitally. It aims to do this through its much ambitious project, Digital India initiative. Under its this initiative, the Modi government also has a plan to develop the Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) and achieve the target of “Net Zero Imports” in another 4 years by 2020. The EDF will prove as a great encouragement tool for entrepreneurs to focus on technology development and setting up of new ventures.

According to IndianWeb2, EDF could prove to be an excellent move by the Modi government and prove that they are really keen on fulfilling the promise of a Digital India to the citizens. Whether they're available to fulfil their commitment is something only time will tell.

For Electronics Startups Govt Launches Electronic Departmnent Fund

At a recent event held in a Mumbai hotel, the Electronics and Information Technology Department announced the launch of Electronics Department Fund (EDF). The Fund can be seen as Modi government's effort to actively promote and support the electronics design and manufacturing sector in the country. The event also saw Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, giving out the very first letter of commitment to a group of Daughter Funds.

The Electronics Department Fund was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 1st, 2015 during the inauguration of the Digital India Week. Further, the search for the Fund Manager for the EDF came to an end on September 4th, 2015 with Canbank Venture Capital Fund Pvt. Ltd. (CVCFL) making the cut. March 31st, 2016 has been set as the deadline for applicants seeking funding to file their participation.

The technological world is advancing at an unprecedented rate. As you read this article, it is changing and becoming better and bigger with each passing second. In order to keep pace with these changes, the IT sector requires constant research and development. The policy book for EDF clearly reads that, "Intellectual Property is possibly the most critical differentiator and determinant of success for a technology company."The sector is central to the growth of every other sector of the economy in the country and therefore is of significance importance.

Catering to this need, the government of India has branded the EDF as a "Funds of Funds" that will look after the constant need of Research and Development and innovation in technology. The EDF will not only help in supporting the Daughter Funds which in return will result in providing risk capital to the companies who are developing new technologies, but it will also help in getting the attention of angel funds, seed funds and venture funds to the desired areas.

The Modi government which took charge of the office in May 2014 is focused on empowering the Indian country digitally. It aims to do this through its much ambitious project, Digital India initiative. Under its this initiative, the Modi government also has a plan to develop the Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) and achieve the target of “Net Zero Imports” in another 4 years by 2020. The EDF will prove as a great encouragement tool for entrepreneurs to focus on technology development and setting up of new ventures.

According to IndianWeb2, EDF could prove to be an excellent move by the Modi government and prove that they are really keen on fulfilling the promise of a Digital India to the citizens. Whether they're available to fulfil their commitment is something only time will tell.

Electronic Development Fund For Startups; Another Promise By Govt.

During a visit to the Kerala's Startup Village, India's IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced that the government will set up an electronic development fund for start-ups across the country soon. Last month we reported that Indian government is planning a Rs 10,000-crore electronics development fund to support ambitious startups in attaining scale and this is a different fund from the Rs 10,000-crore venture fund announced in the Budget for startups in micro, small and medium enterprise (MSMEs).

"The central government has come up with the concept of electronic development fund with the government partnering with angel funds to fund startups in IT, electronics and manufacturing," said Prasad

Prasad added that the central government is promoting electronic manufacturing in a big way by giving many incentives to electronic clusters across the country.

"Until now, we have received investment proposals worth Rs.18,000 crore from foreign players and others in the field of electronic manufacturing. Out of this, around Rs.4,000 crore worth of projects have been approved," he said.

With regards to the incentives, he said if a state government or any other body provides 100 acres of land for setting up manufacturing units, the central government will provide a funding support of Rs.50 crore straight away. Also, for every Rs.100 invested by someone in a factory, the government will invest Rs.25, he said. This is apart from the incentives given by the state.

Earlier in July 2014, India’s finance minister Arun Jaitley announced in his maiden budget speech an INR 10,000 crore (US$1.6 billion) fund for tech startups in India and now it already been almost 6 months nothing has happened so far.

After INR 10,000 crore fund for startups, a number of organizations have eagerly come forward since then to help the government manage the fund and invest the money. But the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, which is supposed to implement the budget proposal, has yet to come out with a plan of action. And now that IT Minister has made another promise for startups in India we are yet to see course of action from government.

Government To Pump $2 Billion Fund To Create Google, Apple Like Co.s in India

Every tech-enthusiast has one common question that 'why companies like Google, Apple, Facebook and Twitter never came out of India?', it seems like Indian government has started working on some level atleast so as to give flourishing environment to IT & tech startups to become at par with companies like Google/Apple.

Indian government, which is planning a Rs 10,000-crore electronics development fund to support ambitious startups in attaining scale.

Notably, one thing to clarify that this is a different fund from the Rs 10,000-crore venture fund announced in the Budget for startups in micro, small and medium enterprise (MSMEs).

The Centre’s electronic manufacturing policy, which has proposed a Rs 10,000-crore Electronics Development Fund to boost the domestic electronic systems design and manufacturing (ESDM) capacity, is likely to be rolled out in the next two months.

Sources from ministry of information technology said that - "10,000 Crore Electronic Development Fund is in the process of finalization and we will get an approval very soon".

The government will not make the investments directly, but will rather route the money through venture capital funds that are focused on electronics hardware and IT startups. "We will take small subscription in them. Thus, we will invest in the capital of the fellows who do the investments," the source said.

The government feels that India has missed the bus in terms of creating technology giants, both in software and electronics hardware. "For example, in software, a Google or a Facebook or a Microsoft Office has not been developed in India. Despite being such a big IT power, India has not been able to make any products. We are able to do just services," the source added. The government will create the electronic development fund to make the investments. "We are not directly funding the startups, but rather we will collaborate with some venture capital funds," the source said.

The department of Electronics and IT (DeitY) had proposed the corpus be divided for various activities. It wanted 25-49 percent of the fund for seed, early and growth stage activities in the electronics and technology acquisition. Similarly, it had proposed a corpus of 25% for infrastructure related to electronics ecosystem development and manufacturing.

Please read proposed draft of Electronic Development Fund here as PDF