Chandigarh startups of women, transgenders to get Rs 2L additional grant
The UT Administration has decided to give an additional grant of Rs 2 lakh to the startups led by women or transgenders. The special grant will be provided under the Chandigarh Startup Policy to be unveiled by Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria tomorrow.
According to the policy, for seed-stage and early-growth startups, a Rs 4.6-crore corpus has been set aside. Under the seed stage, 20 eligible startups will receive Rs 7 lakh each, with an additional Rs 2 lakh for ventures led by women or transgenders. In the early-growth category, 20 eligible ventures will get Rs 12 lakh each to support commercialisation with an additional Rs 2 lakh for startups led by women or transgenders.
To ignite the young minds, the Administration has earmarked Rs 90 lakh for a grand startup competition. Each year, the top 20 winners will receive an idea grant of Rs 2 lakh, along with incubation support for one year, while the next 50 runners-up will be awarded Rs 1 lakh each with incubation support for one year.
The policy also includes reimbursement-based fiscal incentives, such as subsidised rent of Rs 5,000 for office space per month for 50 startups, Rs 1-lakh support for IT and quality certifications to 20 startups and Rs 10,000 for filing patent to 40 startups. Besides, Rs 50,000 will be given to 50 ventures for participation in national conferences or workshops, Rs 2.5 lakh to two startups for taking part in international conference and workshop, and Rs 2-3 lakh for participation in the acceleration programme.
On September 3, 2022, the UT Administration rolled out the draft startup policy with a dedicated fund for the city ecosystem.
The main objective of the policy is to enable the establishment and growth of at least 200 new startups during the policy period of five years.
The policy will extend financial and non-financial incentives to startups across all stages of their lifecycle and provide an impetus to incubators for building infrastructure and capacity through financial incentives.
The Policy Monitoring and Implementation Committee, headed by the Secretary, Industries, will accord approvals to selected startups and incubators.
