SSC
The Startup India initiative was launched on:
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Answer: Option C — 16 January 2016
Detailed Solution
The Startup India initiative was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech on 15 August 2015 and formally launched on 16 January 2016 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. Since 2022, 16 January is celebrated as National Startup Day.
The aim of Startup India is to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in India, which will drive economic growth and create large-scale employment. It is coordinated by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The Startup India Action Plan has 19 action points, grouped under three areas:
Simplification and handholding: self-certification under labour and environment laws, a Startup India Hub, a mobile app and portal, and easy registration and exit.
Funding support and incentives: a Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) with a corpus of ₹10,000 crore, managed by SIDBI; a Credit Guarantee Scheme; income tax exemption for three consecutive years out of the first ten years for eligible startups; and fast-tracking and an 80% rebate on patent filing fees.
Industry-academia partnership and incubation: the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), set up under NITI Aayog in 2016, which runs Atal Tinkering Labs in schools and Atal Incubation Centres.
To be recognised as a "startup" by DPIIT, an entity must be less than ten years old, have an annual turnover not exceeding ₹100 crore in any year, and work towards innovation or improvement of products, processes or services. By 2025, more than 1.5 lakh startups had been recognised by DPIIT, making India the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, with over 100 unicorns (startups valued at over 1 billion US dollars).
Why not the other options?
- ✗15 August 2015 is when it was announced, not launched.
- ✗25 September 2014 is when the Make in India initiative was launched.
- ✗1 July 2015 is when the Digital India programme was launched.
Quick tip
Remember: Startup India = launched 16 January 2016 (National Startup Day), DPIIT, Fund of Funds managed by SIDBI; Make in India = 25 September 2014; Digital India = 1 July 2015.
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Government Schemes — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Government Schemes, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the major welfare and development schemes of the Government of India, such as those for financial inclusion, health, housing, agriculture, skill development and women and child welfare, along with their launch year, objectives and ministries. Questions usually ask what a scheme aims to do, when it was launched, or which ministry runs it. For example, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (2014) aims at financial inclusion through bank accounts. Schemes are often renamed, merged or extended, so pair these static facts with the latest updates before banking and government exams. Practise the government schemes questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.