Angel tax abolition significant milestone, will boost startups: IT Minister

The Union Budget announcement of the abolition of the angel tax is a significant milestone that will boost the startup ecosystem in India, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday.

It is a "very good decision" and has been the biggest demand of deep tech startups, Vaishnaw said, adding that the move will spur investment in startups.

"Angel tax has been a long-standing issue...deep tech startups had a major issue on how do you do valuation... that point has been addressed with its abolition," he said at a post-budget conference.

The minister said India has taken big strides in domestic manufacturing of mobiles, laptops and servers, and the focus now is to encourage component manufacturing.

The process of framing rules under the Data Protection Act (DPDP Act) is in the "advanced stage", he said, adding that "we will place rules for public and stakeholder consultation soon".