Trust-Based Governance: DPIIT Cites 2.5 Lakh Recognised Startups, 25 Lakh Jobs and Record $94.5 Billion FDI

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has detailed a sustained shift from a permission-based to a trust-based regulatory framework for Indian businesses, citing measurable outcomes across startups, compliance reduction, labour law consolidation, foreign direct investment and digital single-window clearances.

Startup India: scale and funding

DPIIT has recognised 2,50,046 startups, reporting over 25.42 lakh jobs across 770+ districts and 56 industries; 52% of recognised startups are from non-metro cities and 48% have at least one woman director.
Startup India Seed Fund Scheme: Rs 775.67 crore approved for 4,194 startups across 32 States/UTs through 244 incubators, including 2,147 women-led startups.
Fund of Funds for Startups: SIDBI has committed Rs 12,623 crore to 166 Alternative Investment Funds, which have invested Rs 28,254 crore in 1,475 startups.
Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups: 532 loans worth Rs 1,662.71 crore guaranteed, covering startups employing 41,637 people; guarantee cover per borrower doubled from Rs 10 crore to Rs 20 crore, with the annual fee reduced to 1% for 27 Champion Sectors.

Compliance reduction and labour reforms

47,957 compliances reduced across Central Ministries and States/UTs - 22,290 digitised, 16,141 simplified, 5,255 decriminalised and 4,271 eliminated.
The Jan Vishwas Acts have decriminalised 900 provisions of Central laws: 183 provisions across 42 Acts in 2023 and 717 provisions across 79 Acts in 2026.
63 regulatory reforms enabled, including abolition of the angel tax, harmonisation of long-term capital gains taxation for listed and unlisted shares, and permission for insurance companies, EPFO and gratuity funds to invest in AIFs.
29 Central labour laws consolidated into four Labour Codes; the prior-permission threshold for lay-off or closure raised from 100 to 300 workers, and contract-labour licensing threshold from 20 to 50 workers.
On the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), registered startups rose from 7,929 in January 2021 to 43,260, delivering 6.23 lakh orders worth Rs 68,105 crore to public buyers.

FDI liberalisation and the single window

Seventeen sectors have moved to the automatic FDI route; the defence FDI limit under the automatic route was raised from 49% to 74% for new industrial licences, and insurance from 49% to 74% in 2021 and to 100% in 2026 for insurers investing their entire premium in India.
India received USD 843 billion in FDI during FY 2014-15 to FY 2025-26 - 169% higher than the USD 313 billion in the preceding twelve years - with an all-time high of USD 94.53 billion in FY 2025-26.
The National Single Window System (NSWS) has received 15,49,850 applications, registered 5,76,778 businesses and delivered over 8.5 lakh approvals, with 3,779 services live across 32 Central Ministries/Departments and 34 States/UTs.
The Boilers Act, 2025 has replaced the colonial-era Boilers Act, 1923; States/UTs have implemented over 9,700 reforms across seven editions of the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP).

Key facts for your exam

DPIIT functions under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and administers the Startup India initiative.
Recognised startups: 2,50,046; jobs reported: over 25.42 lakh across 770+ districts.
Jan Vishwas Acts: 900 Central-law provisions decriminalised (183 in 2023, 717 in 2026).
NSWS is the single-window digital clearance platform; its Know Your Approvals module maps over 8,000 approvals and the portal works in 22 Indian languages.
FDI in FY 2025-26 touched a record USD 94.53 billion; cumulative FDI over FY 2014-15 to FY 2025-26 was USD 843 billion.

For aspirants, this release is a ready dataset for GS-III answers on ease of doing business, the startup ecosystem and investment promotion - the shift from inspection-heavy regulation to trust-based, self-declaration models is the underlying theme linking Startup India, Jan Vishwas, the Labour Codes and NSWS.

Source: Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 27 October 2026.