Govt regulation stifles innovation

New Delhi: Indian startups must adhere to a self-regulating ecosystem to bring in transparency and ethical behaviour, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said on Monday, while observing that chasing valuation at all costs sometimes leads to misgovernance. He also said that there should not be any regulatory intervention if India wants to create a vibrant startup movement as ‘government regulation stifles innovation’.

Speaking at the Startup Mahakumbh event, Kant said India has been able to create the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, and the challenge for the country is to make it the number one nation of startups in the world in the next five years.

“Startups must adhere to a self-regulating ecosystem governance as this will bring in transparency, ethical behaviour in our statup ecosystem,” he said. Noting that startups are ‘national assets’, the former NITI Aayog CEO said they must bring in best practices, and by following these best practices, startups will trust their stakeholders, they will attract investors and ultimately achieve sustainable growth.

“It is very important that startups should focus on growth, but valuation at all cost sometimes leads to misgovernance,” he noted.