India, Jan. 15 -- The Government of India has issued a release:
Key Takeaways
Startups: An Inspiration for Economic Growth
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)
AIM 1.0: Flagship Programs
Programs under AIM 2.0
Components
Financial Incentives
With over 2 lakh DPIIT-recognised startups as of December 2025, India stands firmly as one of the world's largest startup ecosystems.
While closely working with various central and state ministries, incubators, and global partners, the flagship programmes under AIM promote the Indian startup ecosystem.
A decade of Startup India has built a full-lifecycle support system spanning ideation, funding, mentorship, and scale-up.
Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs)
NIDHI-PRAYAS (Promotion and Acceleration of Young and Aspiring technology entrepreneurs), Supports from Idea to Prototype by providing a maximum funding support to an innovator/ Startup of Rs.10 lakhs.
Around 50% of DPIIT-recognised startups originate from Tier-II and Tier-III cities, signalling the democratisation of entrepreneurship.
NIDHI-EIR (Entrepreneur in Residence), Support system to reduce risk for budding entrepreneurs, and encourage graduate students and provides financial support of up to Rs.30,000/- monthly.
AIM 2.0 centred on piloting new initiatives to address ecosystem gaps and scaling proven models in collaboration with Governments, industry, academia, and communities
Community Innovator Fellowship (CIF)
NIDHI-TBI (Technology Business Incubator), To tap innovations and technologies for venture creation by utilising expertise and infrastructure available with the host institution.
Rural and grassroots programmes such as SVEP, ASPIRE, and PMEGP are enabling micro-enterprises, women-led ventures, and local jobs.
NIDHI-iTBI (Inclusive- Technology Business Incubator), A new variant of the NIDHI-TBI where it focuses on promoting entrepreneurship and supporting i-TBIs largely in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, with a focus on inclusiveness in terms of geographies, gender, persons with special abilities, etc.
Youth Co:Lab program
NIDHI-Accelerator (Startup Acceleration Programme), Fast tracking a start-up through focused intervention.
Startups: Pivotal Role in Economic Transformation
NIDHI-SSS (Seed Support System), Provide early-stage investment through a maximum financial support of Rs.1000 lakh (made available to an incubator) and Rs.100 lakh per start-up as Seed Support
National Startup Day on 16 January 2026 marks a landmark decade of the Startup India Initiative. What began in 2016 as a policy push to energise entrepreneurship has evolved into one of the world's largest and most diverse startup ecosystems. Anchored by "Startup India" this movement has had a transformative impact on India's entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem. It is firmly aligned with India's march toward achievement of Viksit Bharat 2047, combining economic modernization with inclusive regional uplift. reflecting its.
NIDHI-COE(Centres of Excellence), provide globally competitive facilities to help startups go global.
Startups have emerged as a vital pillar of India's economic transformation, driving innovation, job creation, and inclusive development. Over the past decade, India has rapidly evolved into one of the world's largest startup ecosystems, with more than 2 lakh startups as of December 2025 . Major hubs like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi-NCR have been at the forefront of this transformation. At the same time, smaller cities are also steadily contributing to the momentum with around 50% of the startups emerging from Tier II/ III cities. , reflecting the democratisation of entrepreneurship.
Startups are increasingly bridging India's rural- urban divide by deploying solutions across agri-tech, telemedicine, microfinance, tourism, and ed-tech, directly addressing developmental gaps and supporting rural livelihoods. Within this landscape, women-led startups are emerging as a key driver of inclusive and regionally balanced growth, with more than 45% of recognised startups having at least one-woman Director/Partner as of December 2025. This reflects the emergence of innovation not only as an economic engine but also as a driver of social equity and balanced regional development.
Startup India Initiative: A Decade of Building India's Innovation Backbone
The Startup India Initiative, led by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has emerged as the cornerstone of India's innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Over the past decade, the initiative has evolved from a policy-focused framework into a comprehensive, multi-dimensional platform supporting startups at every stage from ideation to scaling operations. This progress is reflected in India's high-value startup ecosystem, which has expanded from just four privately held companies valued above $1 billion in 2014 to over 120 such firms today, with a combined valuation exceeding $350 billion underscoring both the scale and growing global relevance of India's startup landscape.
Startups are leveraging India's young demographic dividend, generating employment across technology, services, and manufacturing sectors, while also creating indirect job opportunities through gig work and supply chains. Beyond employment, startups are increasingly collaborating with large corporates and multinational companies, facilitating technology transfer, scalability, and global market integration.
In traditional sectors, innovation is driving economy-wide impact: agri-tech platforms like Hesa are improving farmers' market access by bridging the rural-urban divide, while clean mobility startups such as Zypp are delivering scalable EV-based last-mile solutions. These innovations are producing multiplier effects across finance, supply chains, sustainability, and digital infrastructure, underscoring the broader ecosystem benefits of a thriving startup sector.
To accelerate innovation-led entrepreneurship, DPIIT, through the Startup India initiative, has rolled out the following flagship schemes and digital platforms to support funding, mentorship, and the scaling of startups nationwide.
The Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) is a flagship initiative of the DPIIT under the Startup India Action Plan and is managed by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). With a corpus of Rs.10,000 crore, the scheme supports SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), which in turn invest in startups, with the objective of expanding access to domestic risk capital and strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The corpus of Rs. 10,000 crore has been committed to over 140 AIFs, which have collectively invested Rs.25,500+ crore in 1,370+ startups.
The Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups is implemented for enabling collateral free loans to startups through eligible financial institutions. CGSS is operationalized by the National Credit
Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) Limited. Under CGSS, 330+ loans worth over Rs.800 crore have been guaranteed for startup borrowers.
With a corpus of Rs.945 crore, the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) provides financial assistance to startups for activities such as proof of concept, prototyping, product trials, market entry, and commercialisation. The scheme is overseen by an Expert Advisory Committee (EAC), which is responsible for its implementation, execution, and monitoring.
The corpus of Rs.945 crore have been approved to 215+ incubators to support early-stage startups under the scheme.
The Startup India Online Hub is a one-of-a-kind digital platform for all stakeholders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India to discover, connect and engage with each other.The Startup Hub operationalizes this by connecting investors, mentors, and incubators with India's aspiring entrepreneur. It brings together funds, academic institutions, corporates, and government bodies.
The States' Startup Ranking Framework (SRF) assesses states and Union Territories based on their startup-friendly policies and implementation, fostering competitive federalism to strengthen India's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Under the framework, states and UTs are classified into categories such as Best Performers, Top Performers, Leaders, Aspiring Leaders, and Emerging Startup Ecosystems, encouraging healthy competition and continuous improvement in startup governance.
The Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth (MAARG) program has been developed to provide startups across the country with easy access to mentorship. By connecting entrepreneurs with experienced mentors, the portal aims to support startup growth, offer strategic guidance, and strengthen the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem nationwide.
Developed in collaboration with SIDBI, the Startup India Investor Connect Portal is a digital platform that connects startups with venture capital funds and investors, with a particular focus on early-stage ventures. The platform enables entrepreneurs to reach multiple investors through a single application and pitch their ideas efficiently.
Schemes Strengthening India's Startup Ecosystem
In addition to Startup India, a range of sector-specific and ministry-led initiatives have reinforced India's startup ecosystem by addressing technology development, rural entrepreneurship, academic innovation, and regional inclusion. These schemes ensure that startup support is broad-based, decentralised, and aligned with national development priorities.
Launched in 2016 by NITI Aayog, the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is the Government's flagship initiative that aims to foster a nationwide culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across schools, universities, research institutions, startups, and industry. With an outlay of Rs.2,750 croreup to March 2028, AIM provides an integrated framework to design innovation programmes, enable partnerships, and strengthen India's startup ecosystem.
While AIM 1.0 focused on establishing innovation infrastructure and nurturing India's emerging ecosystem, AIM 2.0 (2024) is centred on piloting new initiatives that address ecosystem gaps and scaling proven models in collaboration with Governments, industry, academia, and communities. It is also strengthening the early-stage innovation pipeline by scaling the Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) ecosystem, which nurtures problem-solving and entrepreneurial mindsets among school students.
GENESIS (Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups)
The GENESIS initiative, a National Deep-tech Startup Platform by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), was launched in July 2022, with an aim to scale up about 1600 technology startups through implementing agencies in Tier-II and Tier-III cities across India, providing significant funding and support for deep-tech innovation.
With a budgetary outlay of Rs.490 crore spread over five years, the scheme is positioned to accelerate and strengthen India's rapidly expanding technology startup ecosystem through collaborative engagement among various stakeholders- startups, government institutions, academia, and corporates.
MeitY Startup Hub (MSH)
Established in 2016, the MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) promotes technology-led innovation and strengthen India's startup ecosystem. The Hub drives technology-led economic growth and innovation and acts as a central platform connecting incubation centres, Centres of Excellence on Emerging Technologies, and other platforms supported by the MeitY.
As of December 2025, the MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) supports a thriving ecosystem comprising of over 6,148+ startups, more than 517 incubators and over 329 labs across the country
Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE) 2.0 Scheme
Anchored within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the TIDE 2.0 Scheme was introduced in 2019 to catalyse technology-driven entrepreneurship by strengthening incubators that support Information and Communication Technology (ICT) startups using emerging technologies such as IoT, AI, blockchain and robotics. The supported thematic include Healthcare, Education, Agriculture, Financial Inclusion (including digital payments), Infrastructure and Transportation and Environment and Clean Tech. It further seeks to offer holistic support across seven thematic areas aligned with national priorities.Support is channelled through 51 incubators situated in top academic institutions and national research organisations across the country.
NIDHI (National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations)
The National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI), launched in 2016 by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, acts as an umbrella programme for nurturing ideas and innovations (knowledge-based and technology-driven) into successful startups. The programme focuses on building an innovation-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem with the objective of socio-economic development through wealth and job creation.
It has contributed to the economy by generating 1,30,000+ jobs, supported 12,000+ startups, backed 175+ Technology Business Incubator (TBI) and generated 1100+ IP (Intellectual Property).
Startup Village Entrepreneurship Program (SVEP)
Implemented in May 2015 as a sub-scheme under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM), the SVEP aims to promote rural entrepreneurship by enabling households to set up and scale local enterprises.
ASPIRE (A Scheme for Promotion of Innovation, Rural Industries and Entrepreneurship)
Launched by the Ministry of MSME in 2015, the scheme aims to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in rural and underserved areas. It focuses on setting up Livelihood Business Incubators (LBIs) for micro-enterprise creation, skilling and re-skilling opportunities, and workforce supply to industrial clusters.
Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP)
Conceived as India's flagship intervention to promote self-employment and grassroots enterprise creation, the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) was brought into effect in 2008 by integrating the earlier Prime Minister's Rojgar Yojana (PMRY) and Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP) into a single, streamlined framework. The scheme is implemented through the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) under the Ministry of MSME, ensuring wide outreach and effective last-mile delivery.
Looking Ahead: A Future Built on Innovation & Execution
As India marks a decade of the Startup India Initiative, the country's startup ecosystem stands at an inflection point- moving decisively from rapid expansion to sustainable scale and deeper integration with the real economy.
A decade on, India's startup ecosystem represents not merely scale, but structural transformation built on demographic advantage, digital public infrastructure, and a sustained reform agenda. Startups are now embedded across priority sectors, driving innovation, employment generation, and global market integration. As India advances towards a $7.3 trillion economy by 2030 and the broader vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, startups are poised to remain central to the country's development trajectory serving both as catalysts of growth and as enduring symbols of India's future-ready, innovation-led economic model.
References
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID2098452(R)3&lang2
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Ministry Of Electronics & Information Technology
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Ministry of Science & Technology
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Ministry of Rural Development
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID2081567(R)3&lang2
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID2146872(R)3&lang2
Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
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Ministry of Home Affairs
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Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship
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Press Information Bureau
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NITI Aayog
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IBEF
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SIDBI
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Click here for pdf file.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
