India Is Counting on Reality TV to Galvanize its Startup Scene

(Bloomberg) -- India’s government is keen to sustain the hyper-growth of its tech scene, and it thinks reality TV may be the answer.

Narendra Modi’s administration intends to create a TV channel and show that matches entrepreneurs and startups with investors. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Friday the program will run on a clutch of channels currently operated by state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan.

“This shall serve as a platform for promoting startups, discussing issues affecting their growth, matchmaking with venture capitalists and for funding and tax planning,” Sitharaman said during a reading of annual budget proposals in parliament.

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The channel will be designed and run by startups, Sitharaman said, without elaborating. It was one of the few budget announcements related to India’s high-profile technology startup sector, which has produced giant outfits from Ola and Paytm to Flipkart as smartphone usage skyrockets and cheap data rates fuels Internet adoption. As unemployment rates hit a 45-year high, Modi is keen to energize the job-creating startup sector. Doordarshan’s nationwide reach could help raise private firms’ profile while stimulating entrepreneurship in rural areas.

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