Why in news? 

Karnataka has bagged the “Best Performer” award in the DPIIT’s (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) State/ Union Territory Startup ranking – 2021.

Highlights:

• The DPIIT has considered the State as an institutional champion, an innovative leader, a procurement forerunner, a capacity-building pioneer, and a founding leader.
• The government will make all efforts to make Karnataka as the most favoured destination for startups.
• According to DPIIT, the government has carried out several initiatives, such as launching engineering research and development policy to attract sector-focussed incentives, creating regulatory sandboxes for start-ups to avail exemption from State and municipal laws, and developing modernistic policies to support innovation in disruptive sectors, to make it attractive and investor-friendly.
• V. Ramana Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary, Dr. Meena Nagaraj, Director, Department of Electronics, IT/BT, and S&T have been recognised as “Startup Champions” of Karnataka.
• Andhra Pradesh has been ranked as an ‘Emerging Start-up Ecosystem’ in the States’ Start-up Ranking-2021 released recently by the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Government of India.
• Along with Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Mizoram and Ladakh were recognised as Emerging Startup Ecosystems.
• Three States were named Best Performers, five Top Performers, eight Leaders and 11 Aspiring Leaders in the country.

About the rankings:

• Thirty-one States and Union Territories were assessed for their performance under the States’ Start-up Ranking Framework, and they were ranked in five categories — Best Performer, Top Performers, Leaders, Aspiring Leaders, and Emerging Startup Ecosystems.