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"Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a number of initiatives on Saturday to support the country&amp;#8217;s start-ups, including a 100 billion rupee ($1.5 billion) fund and a string of tax breaks for both the companies and their investors.\nIndia, which already has a handful of new-generation success stories, is seeking to encourage more cutting-edge technology and other start-ups \u2013 supporting new businesses in a country which badly needs to accelerate a still sluggish economic recovery and create millions of jobs as the workforce expands.\nModi&amp;#8217;s high-profile event in New Delhi \u2013 attended by hundreds of investors and entrepreneurs, including the founder of taxi-hailing app Uber, Travis Kalanick \u2013 promised a shot in the arm for the sector, with exemptions from tax and compliance inspections for three years.\n&amp;#8220;I urge all entrepreneurs to create companies that solve India&amp;#8217;s problems and create jobs,&amp;#8221; he told a packed auditorium in New Delhi, speaking in Hindi.\n&amp;#8220;Start-up does not mean a billion-dollar company where thousands of people work. It is about employing even five people, and developing India.&amp;#8221;\nOnline companies such as e-commerce marketplaces and Snapdeal, along with ride-sharing company Ola, have highlighted the potential for home-grown technology successes in a country best known for capitalizing on cheap engineering talent as the world&amp;#8217;s back office.\nHowever, the push by Modi&amp;#8217;s government is the first time Indian policymakers have announced an agenda directly aimed at promoting start-ups and entrepreneurship.\nModi unveiled plans for a new 100 billion rupee fund: a structured fund of funds that will invest in venture capital funds over a period of four years, financed by the government and the state-owned Life Insurance Corp.(LIC).\nHe also said start-up companies would benefit from cheaper and faster patent applications, enjoying 80% rebates on the cost of patents. A mobile app would allow companies to be set up within a day, he promised.\nMoreover, they will be exempt from income tax for the first three years in which they make a profit. Their investors could also benefit: recognized funds of funds could see exemptions from capital gains tax, Modi said.\nThe announcements, at a government-organized conference on start-ups in New Delhi, come months after Modi made a whirlwind tour of Silicon Valley, meeting the chief executives of Facebook, Google, and Apple.\nIndia, with a rapidly expanding population of Internet users, is seen as one of the world&amp;#8217;s fastest growing start-up hotspots. Venture capital funds including Sequoia and Tiger Global have raised multi-billion dollar funds for their Indian investments in recent years.\nThe National Association of Software and Services Companies estimates the number of new companies launched in India grew by 40% in the last year.\nEarlier on Saturday, Japan&amp;#8217;s Softbank said it would &amp;#8220;seriously&amp;#8221; accelerate investments in India, comparing the growth in India&amp;#8217;s internet economy to China a decade ago. Softbank had previously said it would invest $10 billion in India over 10 years.\nWeWork, a New York-based provider of shared office space, used the conference to announce its Indian launch plans."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://fortune.com/2016/01/16/modi-india-startup-fund/>