The Changing World Of Entrepreneurship In Tier-II And Tier-III Cities Of India
How would you define entrepreneurship as? An activity of setting up a business, or something else? Well, ask an entrepreneur and you’ll get to know more about the soul of entrepreneurship. It is not only about calling yourself a founder or CEO, it's about creating an ecosystem where you can flourish together with a bunch of talented minds, together contributing to an economically strong society.
Identifying talent and creativity is not a painful task in countries like India. And hence, Entrepreneurship is well cherished in the country. Starting from Ola Cabs, Flipkart, Oyo Rooms to Zomato, each startup idea has become a reality, all because of the great enthusiasm and a zeal to succeed among passionate and talented entrepreneurs.
Emerging Entrepreneurship Ideas in India
Entrepreneurship in India reached great heights in the last two decades. And with smartphones and fast internet connectivity reaching millions of hands across the rural and urban areas, hundreds of startups like Grofers, Bigbasket, Hike and Byju’s have received huge success in very short span of time.
What comes as positive news for the Indian economy is that there has been a steep rise in the number of startups based in the tier-II and tier-III cities. Gone are the days when Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai or Kolkata were hot favorites for starting a new company. Now, Patna, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Bhopal, and Mohali have emerged as most desired cities among startup ideas and even flourished companies.
Last year, NASSCOM and Zinnov published a research report that suggested that 20% of the total startup base in India is based in tier-II and tier-III cities, which is growing at a very vast scale. And recently, Mr, Narendra Modi, Honorable Prime Minister of India has also claimed that 44% of all startups are found in tier-II and tier-III cities, while discussing the achievements of the Startup India policy by the Government of India.
Factors Behind Developing Entrepreneurship in Tier-II and Tier-III Cities
Entrepreneurship has boosted in tier-II and tier-III cities because of the availability of infrastructure support like fast internet connection, seamless 24x7 power supply, transport connectivity, and favorable working conditions in terms of legal support and company laws & regulations.
Another big factor behind this expansion is the availability of tremendous talent in tier-II and tier-III cities. These talented minds get an opportunity to work in their home state rather than migrating to a metro city in search of employment. And in return, startups and established companies enjoy the leverage to access talented workforce at lesser costs as compared to that of bigger cities. And at the end, both the employee and employer enjoys the benefit. It also supports the local economy by increasing cash flow in the market.
Central & State Governments Empowering Entrepreneurship Ideas
The Government of India has taken strict measures to set up a positive working ecosystem by providing a collaborative platform between the government, business industries, and institutions. The government aims to address all startup concerns with the help of innovative and sustainable solutions. As a result, there has been a rapid growth of incubators, venture capitalists and accelerators in the tier-II and tier-III cities.
Many State Governments have framed their own ‘Startup Policy’ which feature a host of benefits like capital investment, IT infrastructure support, incubation centers, R&D labs, services like patent registration, accounting, legal, investment banking and much more.
The State of Bihar, which has marked a major economic growth of more than 10%, higher than the national average has came with a brilliant ‘Startup Policy’, which features Rs.500 venture capital along with modern facilities like centrally air-conditioned meeting rooms, conference rooms, video conferencing room, fully-furnished cabins, cubicles, free internet connection, free electricity, cafeteria, free space for servers, hygiene maintenance support and more in 14,000 square feet area in Biscomaun Towers, Patna.
The Department of Information Technology & Beltron - Government of Bihar recently organized Patna Ideathon Event with support from event partner Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), giving an effective platform to entrepreneurs, new startups and fresh ideas to showcase their vision and plans that unlock employment opportunities and economic growth in the state of Bihar.
The Government of Punjab with its recently held ‘Punjab Startup Summit 2018’ also aims to invite fresh startup ideas and established companies to the state of Punjab. The Startup Chhattisgarh Programme, Kerala Startup Mission, Madhya Pradesh’s Startup Conclave and UP Startup Yatra are few other startup programs by State Governments to attract startup and established business houses to tier-II and tier-III cities of India.
