Centre to roll out policy for deeptech startups in India: DPIIT Secy

Deeptech focus: Centre will soon have a new policy which nurtures and empowers India’s deeptech startup ecosystem, according to Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary for Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

DPIIT Secretary was speaking at StartUp Mahakumbh in New Delhi on March 18, wherein he said deeptech startup policy is in final stages of inter-ministerial discussions.

“We hope to bring it forward soon. We will hopefully move towards creating a dedicated fund of funds,” Singh said in his dress, ding that country will soon witness a separate window for deeptech startups.

DPIIT Secretary also spoke about need for startups to convert ir innovation into intellectual property rights for gain of nation and mselves.

"Extensive R&D is answer for that and Government of India is in process of creating a separate dedicated deep tech startup policy. policy paper is now in final stages of inter-ministerial discussion. We hope to bring it forward soon. We will move towards creating funds of funds. Hopefully you will see separate window for deeptech startups," Singh said.

As part of 21st meeting of Prime Minister's Science, Technology, and Innovation visory Council (PM-STIAC) on July 7, 2022, creation of a national consortium and a working group was recommended which proposed a comprehensive policy framework for strengning needs of Indian deeptech startup ecosystem.

Singh also highlighted how provision of Rs 1 lakh crore for research and development (R&D) in interim Budget is a path breaking exercise.

He said that more than funding, startups need order from government, and Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is providing an opportunity to segment.

He also called for implementing defence ministry 's iDex (Innovations for Defence Excellence) model across government departments.

Over 34 deeptech startups are displaying ir innovations at Nasscom pavilion at ‘Startup Mahakumbh,’ which is a three-day event for discussions across startup ecosystem.

event will also host discussions around Artificial Intelligence and software-as-a-service (SaaS), D2C and consumer brands apart from agritech, fintech, deeptech, biotech and pharma, incubators, climate tech, e-sports, and B2B manufacturing.

India maintains its position as third-largest tech startup ecosystem in word, having more than 950 startups in technology founded in 2023 itself. 

As per a recent Nasscom-Zinnov report, investments in deeptech will continue to rise in 2024. As Generative AI (GenAI) accelerates, 70 per cent of startup founders are incorporating technology in ir solution stack. 

(With PTI Inputs)