To fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day a
nnouncement and push for bank-financing of start-ups, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched the India Aspiration Fund in Mumbai on Tuesday with a capital of Rs. 2,000 crore.
Set up by the Small Industries Development Bank of India, the India Aspiration Fund aims to create 7.5 lakh jobs in five years. By then, the government expects the total investment to grow to Rs. 75,000 crore with more debt and equity pumped into the start-up funding ecosystem.
Addressing the country from the Red Fort on August 15, PM Modi had said, “We are looking at systems for enabling startups. We must be number one in start-ups. Start-up India, Stand up India.”
Announcing the fund, Arun Jaitley took a dig at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi calling him ‘obstructionist’ and said he did not ‘understand the pulse of aspirational India’.
