Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
Also called: DPIIT · Topic: Industrial Policy, Public Sector, MSMEs and Disinvestment · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is a department of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is the Centre's main office for growing industry and attracting investment. It writes India's FDI policy (rules for foreign firms that invest to own and run businesses here) and publishes the official FDI data. It also issues industrial licensing notifications. A licence is government permission to make a product, and today only a few hazardous or strategic products still need one.
It runs Startup India and BRAP (Business Reform Action Plan), which ranks states on how easy they make it to do business. Its Office of the Economic Adviser puts out the monthly Index of Eight Core Industries, a key measure of industrial activity. So most questions on FDI rules, startups or ease of doing business lead back to DPIIT.
Example
Under Startup India, which was launched on 16 January 2016, DPIIT "recognises" startups. To qualify, a firm must be up to 10 years old and have turnover of no more than Rs 100 crore. A recognised startup can then use government benefits such as the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (2021).
Don't confuse with
- DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management): it sits under the Finance Ministry and sells government shares in public sector firms (disinvestment). DPIIT brings in private and foreign investment.
- NSO-MoSPI: it publishes the full Index of Industrial Production (IIP). DPIIT publishes only the core-industries index, which makes up 40.27% of the IIP's weight.