Govt. floats draft National Deep Tech Start-up Policy

• Posted on August 2, 2023
• Daily Current Affairs

Govt. floats draft National Deep Tech Start-up Policy

Context : 

A draft of the National Deep Tech Startup Policy (NDTSP) was released for public review on Monday by the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government (PSAG), following the high-level iteration of two previous versions with other government ministries, academia, and stakeholder companies.

What is National Deep Tech Startup Policy (NDTSP)?

• Objective: The NDTSP intends to build the environment for deep tech startups in India by addressing their needs. It focuses on creating an atmosphere where deep tech firms can flourish and get over their particular and challenging problems.
• Establishment of a National Consortium: The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India is in charge of formulating policy, working in conjunction with important stakeholders. These parties come together to form the National Consortium, which is made up of a wide range of partners from different government agencies, business associations, and academic institutions.
• Consultative Process: A thorough multi-stakeholder consultative process led to the creation of the draft NDTSP. Numerous priority-setting meetings at the National Consortium and Working Group levels, consultative workshops with deep tech startups in various cities, multi-stakeholder roundtables and debates, concentrated group discussions with subject matter experts, and one-on-one interviews with thought leaders in the deep tech space are all part of the process.
• The draft NDTSP addresses a number of crucial policy themes to encourage the expansion of deep tech businesses. The following are these themes: 
  1. Fostering Research, Development, and Innovation: Initiatives to promote R&D and innovation in deep tech industries. 
  2. Improving the Regime for Intellectual Property: Measures to support and safeguard intellectual property rights for deep tech businesses. 
  3. Initiatives to make it easier for deep tech startups to get financing and investment to facilitate access to funding. 
  4. Promote collaboration and resource sharing among deep tech startups by enabling shared infrastructure. 
  5. Developing Supportive Regulations and Standards for Deep Tech Innovations: Creating Regulations and Standards that are Supportive for Deep Tech Innovations. 
  6. Attracting Human Resources & Starting Capacity Building: Measures to attract qualified personnel and strengthen capacity building in deep tech domains. Promoting Procurement & Adoption: Encouraging various stakeholders to buy and use deep tech solutions.  
  7. Ensuring Policy & Program Interlinkages: Ensuring coordination and synergy with current policies and programs for startups. 
  8. Deep Tech Startup Sustainability: Deep tech startup sustainability strategies.  
• Complementary to Startup India: The NDTSP completes and enhances the current Startup India policies, programs, and initiatives. While Startup India includes a wider range of businesses in other industries, it focuses especially on tackling the issues faced by deep tech startups.

What are the advantages for India in implementing the policy?

• Global Competitiveness: The policy attempts to increase India’s position in the global technological value chain by concentrating on deep technology sectors including semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and space technology. Indian deep tech start-ups may become more competitive on the global market as a result, of luring collaborations and funding from abroad.
• Technological Development: Research and development funding for deep tech startups will promote technological growth in important fields. This can then result in the development of innovative goods and services that help numerous industries and advance the economy.
• Job Creation: As deep tech start-ups expand, jobs may be created in a range of fields, including technology, research, engineering, marketing, and more. As these start-ups grow, they are probably going to hire competent workers, which would increase job possibilities in India.
• Intellectual property and innovation: Simplifying the intellectual property system will motivate deep tech start-ups to safeguard their inventions and concepts. This protection encourages innovation and encourages start-ups to create new products and technology, which has increased the number of Indian patent applications.
• Economic Development: Deep tech start-ups have the ability to upend established markets and sectors. These start-ups have the potential to dramatically impact India’s economic development and GDP as they expand and prosper.