What qualifies as a “Startup” for the purpose of Government schemes?

An entity (Private Limited Company or Registered Partnership Firm or Limited Liability Partnership) shall be considered a “Startup” –

a) Upto 5 years from the date of its incorporation/ registration, and

b) If its turnover for any of the financial years has not exceeded INR 25 crore, and

c) It is working towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialization of new products, processes or services driven by technology or intellectual property. The entity should not have been formed by splitting up or reconstruction of a business already in existence.

A proprietorship or a public limited company is not eligible as startup. A one person company, being a private limited company is entitled to be recognized as a 'startup'. 

For further details please follow the link:

http://startupindia.gov.in/Startups_Notification_17_02_16.pdf