Piyush Goyal announces startup helpline after remark on lack of tech focus

The establishment of a Startup India desk within the ministry to act as a helpline for aspiring business owners throughout India was announced by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday. The announcement follows a discussion on entrepreneurship sparked by Piyush Goyal's analysis of India's startup scene.

In contrast to ice cream manufacturing and grocery delivery, he had advised the startup community to concentrate more on the computer industry and artificial intelligence (AI). Piyush Goyal stated in a government news release that the helpline would be available via a straightforward four-digit toll-free number in local languages.

A startup can report issues, if they exist, and offer suggestions for how to further enhance the ecosystem through this helpline. The BJP representative further stated that the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) will receive ₹2,000 crore as the first installment of the second Fund of Funds for Startups, which has a corpus of ₹10,000 crore and was approved by the Center this year.