Image Source : PIXABAY Nasscom said there should be a dedicated central deeptech fund.
Budget 2025: The Union Budget for the financial year 2025-26 is scheduled to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tomorrow i.e. on February 1, 2025. Ahead of that, India’s apex IT industry body Nasscom has batted for measures to strengthen the availability of ‘patient capital’ (long-term capital) for deeptech startups in India.
According to the industry body, there should be a dedicated central deeptech fund (in the form of fund-of-funds) structured with flexibility for longer gestation (10 years with extensions). The fund’s structure may incorporate provisions for matching capital to encourage greater venture investment in the sector.
This was also proposed in the draft National DeepTech Startup (NDTSP) 2023. Another ask pertains to the creation of a grant framework for the deeptech ecosystem.
Nasscom has also batted for tweaks in safe harbour rules and widening the scope for utilisation of (Special Economic Zone) SEZ reinvestment reserves in its Budget wishlist.
Among the key asks is also making deferment of the time of payment of tax on Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) available to the employees of more startups.
The deferment – even if you look at only DPIIT-registered startups – is actually available only to about 2.5 per cent of these startups.
“While the DPIIT has roughly around 1.43 lakh startups registered on its portal, of which 3,600 odd are certified by the inter-ministerial board, and only these startups can get this benefit,” Ashish Aggarwal, Vice President and Head of Public Policy at Nasscom told PTI.
Given that the employee is required to pay full tax and there is only a deferment of the time of payment, the benefit should be available to all DPIIT recognised start-ups, not limited to 3,605 start-ups who have obtained IMB certificate under the IT Act, according to Aggarwal.
Further, the industry asserts that specific infrastructure grants – in the form of access to labs and testing facilities for high-cost areas like Space, Semiconductors, AI, Clean Energy, etc.
should be explored
With PTI inputs
