• Recently department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has released second edition of Startup Ranking for 2019.
• The Startup Ranking framework aims to rank the States/UTs for establishing a robust ecosystem for supporting Startups. The framework also encourages States and UTs to identify, learn and replicate good practices from each other.

About Ranking:

• The Ranking Framework 2019 comprises of 7 pillars and 30 action points. The pillars will assess States’/UTs efforts across institutional support, simplifying regulations, easing public procurement, incubation support, seed funding support, venture funding support and awareness and outreach related activities. 
• The ranking exercise aims to evaluate measures taken by States/UTs during the assessment period from May 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019.
• DPIIT has prepared the framework after several rounds of consultation with State and UT Governments.
•  The framework has evolved distinctly as compared to last year with major emphasis on collecting feedback from Startups and other important stakeholders from the Startup ecosystem. 

About Startup initiative:

• Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, intended to build a strong ecosystem that is conducive for the growth of startup businesses, to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities. 
• The Government through this initiative aims to empower startups to grow through innovation and design.
• Several programs have been undertaken since the launch of the initiative to contribute to his vision of transforming India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers. These programs have catalyzed the startup culture, with startups getting recognized through the Startup India initiative and many entrepreneurs availing the benefits of starting their own business in India.
• The 19-Point Startup India Action Plan envisages several incubation centres, easier patent filing, tax exemptions, ease of setting-up of business, a INR 10,000 Crore corpus fund, and a faster exit mechanism, among others.