The Union Budget did have something for startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to rejoice. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the increase of the period of profit-linked deductions available to the startups to seven years from the current five. Tax rate for those companies with an annual turnover of upto Rs 50 crore has gone down by five percent. Also, shareholding pattern norms to carry forward losses of startups have been relaxed. But what kind of startups should we in India try building?
Not long ago, I was in the fields of Narayanpur vilage of Telangana, with my team offering low-cost greenhouses to farmers for vegetable cultivation. Our brochure had two options: a 500sqm unit, which could earn Rs 10,000 monthly profit, or a 100sqm unit, which could give Rs 2,000 monthly profit. We thought our approach would meet the needs of all farmers.