“There have been several key takeaways from this year’s Union Budget vis-a-vis the startup community. Primarily, the Government has resolved the raging issue of Angel Tax by eliminating scrutiny around valuation of share premium. It will also put in place a mechanism for e-verification to eliminate tax scrutiny around funds raised by startups as well. This will act as a catalyst in driving investment towards our startup segment and promote cutting-edge technological solutions. It has also proposed measures to carry forward and set off losses for startups while increasing the period of exemption for capital gains through sale of residential houe for startup-centric investment up to March 2021. Moreover, the Indian startup community will soon be witnessing another wave of startup boom  from rural geographies  as the Government will be launching a dedicated startup programme on DD National, 80 Liveliood Business Incubators and 20 Technology Business Incubators for rural artisans. As a cherry on the top, a slew of reforms have also been introduced for Indian NBFCs including foreign investment, government guarantee for PSB loans, one-time six month partial credit guarantee to buy pooled assets, and quick loans of up to Rs. 1 crore for Indian MSMEs. This is being done while also promoting research and development around avant-garde technologies including Artificial Intelligence and Big Data. Perhaps, all of these measures were the need of the hour for our startup community and will create conducive environment for futuristic and globally scalable businesses in India.” said by Anuj Golecha,Co-Founder Venture Catalysts