New Delhi, Jan. 16 -- Five years have passed since the government launched the Startup India Mission to boost Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and startups, but a survey revealed that cash crunch and Goods and Services Tax (GST) remained a major challenge for them.

According to a survey by LocalCircles, Cash crunch remains the top challenge for startup firms and MSMEs. The survey found that "only 31 per cent of them have more than three months of cash or runway".

The figures when further broken down, 27 per cent said "1 to 3 months", 24 per cent said "less than a month", while 21 per cent said "3 to 6 months", and there were about 10 per cent who said "more than 6 months", and 18 per cent maintained they were out of funds". ...