Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Overview

West Bengal

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Levers of change – Entrepreneurship

Following are the key levers of change which determinewhether a state’s policy, education, legal framework, financialsystems, business markets, cultural and social ethos areaugmenting Entrepreneurship Growth:

1. The Entrepreneur

2. Govt. & Regulatory Support

3. Access to Finance

4. Educational & Cultural Preparedness

5. Mentoring & Networking

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The Entrepreneur

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West Bengal ranks #15 in India on World Bank’s

‘Ease of Doing Business’ index according to the Department ofIndustrial Policy and Promotion's (DIPP). It has slipped from 11 in2015 to 15 in 2016.

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Govt. & Regulatory Support

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Govt. Regulatory Bodies:

• My Enterprise WB• Directorate of MSME

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• The state government has set up myEnterprise.wb.gov.in as the singlewindow for all applications, information and all forms.

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My Enterprise WB

https://myenterprisewb.in/

Directorate of MSME

• Department of MSME, Govt. of West Bengal guides entrepreneurs to setup new units/industries. Some tips to the Intending Entrepreneur inrespect of points related to available fiscal support / details of varieties oflicense and concerned issuing authorities.

• They support entrepreneurs at every level in their business journey byleveraging government benefits and networks.

• MSME Facilitation Centre are dedicated service providers on statutorycompliances for an MSME entrepreneur. The MFC is tagged to the onlineSingle Application Gateway (SAG) through http://myenterprisewb.in andacts as a single point to receive all applications made by an entrepreneurto various government entities for compliances and to avail governmentincentives.

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http://msmewb.org/assistance.php

Access to Finance

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Schemes:

• West Bengal startup policy 2016• West Bengal Incentive Scheme 2013• Udiyaman Swanirbhar Karmasansthan Prakalpa 2008• Bangla Swanirbhar Karmasansthan Prakalpa• West Bengal Textile Policy 2013-18 • WB MSME Venture Capital Fund

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West Bengal startup Policy 2016

• The aim of this policy is to support and nurture startup ecosystem inthe state. 10,000 startups in the next ten years is its quantifiable goal.

• Entrepreneurship Development Centre Network (EDCN) would becreated by the state in association with universities and leading highereducation institutes across all districts in the state

• To create a EDC, the universities will be provided up to INR 10 lakh bythe state.

• Startups to access government R&D labs through MSME TechnologyFacilitation Centre set up by the State Government in partnershipwith CSIR (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research).

• The cost of filing and prosecution of patent application will bereimbursed to the incubated start-up companies as per MSME Policyof Government of West Bengal

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• Startups will also be provided with an access of priority equity fundingfrom WB MSME Venture Capital Fund, where at least 20% of the fund isearmarked to support startups.

• Special fiscal incentive to investment bankers @ 1% of the investmentmade by registered Venture Capital/Private Equity Fund into Bengal-based startups as success fee will also be provided.

• The government will also provide special fiscal incentive to incubators @2% of the investment received by its incubates from SEBI registeredVenture Capital / Private Equity Fund into Bengal-based startups.

• To connect all the ecosystem stakeholders, network of support, fundingand service providers, a digital platform, startupbengal.in, has beenlaunched.

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http://www.startupbengal.in/policy

West Bengal Incentive Scheme 2013

The objective of the Scheme is to extend fiscal incentives to encourageentrepreneurs to set up Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises with a viewto focusing on development of MSMEs in the backward region of the Stateand creating a sustainable ecosystem in the MSME sector which canmaximize the utilization of resource and widen the area of operation tomake the State emerge as the MSME leader in the country.

Benefits/Incentives:

• State Capital Investment Subsidy

• Interest Subsidy on Term Loan

• Waiver of Electricity Duty

• Power Subsidy

• Subsidy for Energy Efficiency

• Subsidy on Stamp Duty and Registration Fee

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• Refund of Entry Tax

• Refund of Value Added Tax (VAT)

• Refund of Central Sales Tax ( CST)

• Subsidy for Water Conservation/ Environment Compliance

• Subsidy for Standard Quality Compliance

• Work Force Welfare Assistance

• Power to amend and/or relax

• Subsidy for Patent Registration

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http://msmewb.org/pdf/WBIS-2013-for-MSMEs-as-modified-up-to-22.05.2015.pdf

Udiyaman Swanirbhar KarmasansthanPrakalpa 2008

• Udiyaman Swanirbhar Karmasansthan Prakalpa (USKP), is to assistunemployed youth validly registered with employment exchanges in WestBengal by providing subsidized credit from commercial banks.

• The Margin Money or Subsidy would be @ 25% of the loan amount perperson, subject to a maximum of Rs. 12,500/-. This will be an outrightgrant.

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https://eservices.wb.gov.in/portal/web/guest/udiyaman-swanirbhar-karmasansthan-prakalpa

Bangla Swanirbhar KarmasansthanPrakalpa (B.S.K.P)

• The objective of the scheme is to generate self-employment in the statethrough promotion of tiny scale units of production, manufacturing,trade, service or any other sector other than direct agriculture. It is acontinuing scheme. It covers both urban and rural areas.

• The maximum limit of loan available under the scheme is 10 lakh for anindividual and 25 lakh for a group of entrepreneurs.

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https://employmentbankwb.gov.in/bskp.php

West Bengal Textile Policy 2013-18

• The Textile Policy of Government of West Bengal aims at doubling theshare of West Bengal’s textiles industry from the current 5.2% to at least10% in next ten years i.e. by 2022-23 in India’s textiles industry.

Incentives:

• Capital Investment subsidy

• Interest subsidy on loan

• Electricity duty

• Power subsidy

• Incentive for energy efficiency

• Stamp duty registration fee, VAT, entry tax, CST reimbursement

• Freight Subsidy

• Additional incentive for power loom, technical textile,

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http://bit.ly/2iGkLDV

WB MSME Venture Capital Fund

• West Bengal MSME VC Fund is a close ended fund with a life of 6 yearsestablished in November 2015. The Fund is registered with Securities &Exchange Board of India (SEBI) under the SEBI (Alternative InvestmentFunds) Regulations, 2012 as a Category-I Venture Capital Fund.

• The Fund will provide equity capital to startups, emerging or early stageMSMEs with innovative business models or new products/ services andtechnologies that have the potential to bring superior value propositionsin a globalized and competitive market.

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https://myenterprisewb.in/home/venture_capital_fund

VC’s & Angel Investors• Augment Ventures is an early stage, sector agnostic venture fund

enabling technology providing mentorship and technical developmentservices. http://www.augmentventures.in/

• Seeders: Seeders provides seed funding for technology startups basedout of India. http://seeders.in/index.php

• Hari Balasubramanian is the founder of Ontrack Systems Limited. He hasmade angel investments in several startups in diverse domains and hasled investments in innovative startups.https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhari/

• Dr. Suryanil Ghosh is the founder of TotalStart, angel investor and serialentrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254574

• Raghav Kanoria is the co-founder, Calcutta Angels, and an entrepreneur& angel investor. https://www.linkedin.com/in/raghav-kanoria-30195412/

• Abhishek Rungta: Entrepreneur, angel investor and Co-founder, Seeders.https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhishekrungta/

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Calcutta Angels Network (CAN) is the first structured platform of this kindin Eastern India. The network has a total of 71 investors. Some notableinvestors on the platform are

• Apurva Salarpuria

• Mudit Kumar

• Pradyumna Dalmia

• Sidharth Pansari

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Education & Cultural Preparedness

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Educational Institutions Promoting Entrepreneurship

• Institute of Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Development (iLEAD):http://www.ilead.net.in/about.php

• The Science and Technology Entrepreneurs' Park (STEP), IITKharagpurhttp://www.step-iit.org/

• Entrepreneurship Development Institute :The state government +Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry has created a non-profit institute called Enterprise Development Institute forstrengthening entrepreneurship with structured training andcertification programs such as Executive Masters of Business Creation& Administration (EMBCA) and other diplomas.http://www.edikolkata.org/

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Mentoring & Networking

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Startup Incubators, Co-Working Spaces

• Egiye Bangla is an entrepreneurship TV reality show for start ups (aspiring and recent entrepreneurs) based in West Bengal to showcase their unique business ideas and get a chance to win recognition, rewards, and support for their business. http://egiyebangla.in/

• Nwook is a space which hosts individuals or groups to work/study and conduct face-to-face discussions. One can also host small events and meet-ups there. http://www.nwook.com/#/

• Easy Daftar: It has formal co-working spaces and informal meeting places. http://www.easydaftar.in/about-us.html

• Coworkyard: It is a co-working space with facilities of business centre, office spaces, meeting rooms etc. http://www.coworkyard.com/cities?city=kolkata

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• NASSCOM Startup Warehouse: It is aimed at incubating, funding andsupporting 10,000 technology start-ups in India over the next ten years.The program is supported by Google, Microsoft, Intel, Verisign, Kotak Bankand almost every other Accelerator, Incubator, Angel Network, VentureCapital Fund from India and abroad. http://10000startups.com/kolkata-nasscoms-new-venture-point/

• Kolkata Ventures: Kolkata Ventures is a Indo-US collaboration to fosterentrepreneurship in East India. They provide incubation, seed funding andmentoring services. https://kolkataventures.com/

• IIM Calcutta Innovation Park: They provide incubation facilities,workspace and mentoring. https://www.iimcal.ac.in/faculty/centers-of-excellence/centre-for-entrepreneurship-innovation/iim-calcutta-innovation-park

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• Innokul : Incubator & accelerator for startups. It offers expertise andfunding to startups along with networking, marketing assistance,coworking space, training, and more. http://innokul.com/

• Indus Net Labs is a digital acceleration lab in Kolkata. Startups enrolled inthe programme will get insights from industry veterans on strategy,business model, product-market fit, segmentation-positioning-differentiation, marketing plan, sales pitch and process, scaling, finance,team building, technology guidance, and management basics.http://www.indusnetlabs.com/

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