New Delhi, Dec 9 (KNN) Government has launched the India Aspiration Fund (IAF) under the Small Industries Development Bank of India with a capital of Rs 2,000 crore to give a boost to start-up ecosystem in the country, Union Minister for Skill Development Rajiv Pratap Rudy told Parliament today.

"The objective of the IAF is to catalyse tens of thousands of crores of equity investment into start-ups and MSMEs and creating employment of lakhs of persons, mostly educated youth, over the next four to five years," he said.

Government has established a mechanism known as SETU (Self-Employment and Talent Utilisation) to support all aspects of start-up businesses and other self- employment activities has been set up by the government, Rudy said
 
The National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurs envisaged fostering entrepreneurship and grassroots innovation by providing support in terms of fiscal incentives, creation of grass root technology innovation hubs, legal support and market linkages, he said.

The Minister said the Department of Electronics and Information Technology is implementing a scheme entitled 'Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs' (TIDE) under which 147 start-ups have been supported at 25 TIDE centres established in premier institutes like IITs, NITs, IIMs etc.

Rudy said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address had announced a 'Start-Up India' initiative in which each of the 1.25 lakh bank branches would provide funding support to at least one Dalit or Adivasi entrepreneur and at least one woman entrepreneur. (KNN Bureau)