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The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday approved a state startup policy for 2022-27, which aims at stimulating the growth of 25,000 startups by 2027.

Currently, the state has around 15,000 startups and the new policy has set a goal to add to the number at least 10,000 startups in five years, Minister for IT/BT CN Ashwath Narayan’s office said in a statement.

“The new policy framed by the Department of Electronics and IT/BT has the aim of positioning Karnataka as the ‘Champion State’ for startups and further increase the number of high-growth startups by 2027,” Narayan was quoted as saying in the statement.

The minister said the policy would help create an enabling environment for nurturing startups throughout their business life cycle and make Karnataka a global innovation hub for startups.

The policy focuses on promoting startups in emerging technology clusters beyond Bengaluru by creating a conducive environment and offering startups an ideal ecosystem for growth, he said.

Recently, the Rajasthan government also announced a brand new policy for startups and entrepreneurs in the state.

The Rajasthan Startup Policy 2022 aims to promote the state as a hub for innovation and boost startup growth across industry verticals such as agriculture, education, healthcare, and fintech; increase job opportunities for and upskill youth; and encourage diversity and sustainability within the startup ecosystem.

The new policy builds on the older startup policy that was implemented in 2015, increasing incentives for startups and broadening its scope.

The base funding amount for all startups registered to the government’s iStart Rajasthan programme has doubled from Rs 1.2 lakh to Rs 2.4 lakh, with an extra Rs 60,000 given to startups with women founders who have more than 50% equity in the company.

A number of other funding incentives are also available for startups depending on their QRate, a rating system for startups recognised by iStart based on their potential and investment worthiness.