THE POWER CAPITAL
Delhi has seen major infrastructure and health services upgrade in recent years, leading to its all-round economic growth
Aas a city-state, Delhi is transforming itself from being a traders’ hub to an entrepreneurial powerhouse. India created eight unicorns between 2012 and June 2018, and Delhi led with five—Snapdeal, OYO, One 97 communications, Zomato and Shopclues. What has added to the growing entrepreneurial energy of Delhi is the easy mobility aided by an expanding metro and road network.
Delhi is recognised as the best performing state among small states in infrastructure and entrepreneurship and the most improved state in health. Nearly 100 per cent of Delhi households have electricity and a significantly higher number of people use mobile phones. It also has a relatively high life expectancy at 74.
The Delhi government has tied up with 41 private hospitals to facilitate 30 surgeries free of cost for patients referred to by government hospitals in the capital as part of its ‘quality health for all’ scheme. The government is also working on expanding its mohalla clinic network by setting these up at metro stations.
Relatively lower rental costs in Delhi-NCR offer lucrative opportunities for services businesses. Delhi has nearly 30 per cent of its workforce qualified for occupations such as engineering, medicine, law and consultancy. According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the FDI inflows in Delhi, including parts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, stood at $79.76 billion between April 2000 and June 2018.
Nearly 23 per cent of the startups in the country are concentrated in Delhi-NCR. In 2016, the Delhi government launched an incubation policy and distributed seed money of Rs 1.5 crore each to six higher education institutions. “The Delhi government will pitch in every time there is a good idea and a good plan,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said at the launch of the scheme.