The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which is the nodal body for Start-up India, has amended the definition of a start-up.
As per the new definition, an entity will be considered as a Start-Up if its turn over is less than INR 25 crore and has not completed seven years from the date of its incorporation/registration.
In the definition, the change is with respect to the time period which is currently five years. The new definition has increased it to 7 years taking into the consideration the long gestation period involved in establishing start-ups.
The scope of definition of start-up will also be widened to include scalability of business model with potential of employment generation or wealth creation.
An entity that has completed 7 years from the date of its incorporation or if its turnover exceeds INR 25 crore, it will cease to be a start-up.
The process of recognition of an entity as a start-up will be through an online application made over the mobile app/portal set up by the DIPP.
For the Start-Ups in the biotechnology sector, they will be considered as start-ups for a period of up to 10 years from the date of incorporation/registration.
Start-ups will not require a letter of recommendation from an incubator or an industry association to get tax benefits under the Start-up India action plan.
However, the entities should obtain a certificate of an eligible business from an inter- ministerial board of certification as constituted by the DIPP to claim tax benefit
An entity will be deemed as a start-up if it is working towards innovation, development or improvement of products/processes/services, or if it is a scalable business model with potential for employment generation or wealth creation.
