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

Deeptech focus: The 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.

The DPIIT Secretary was speaking at the StartUp Mahakumbh in New Delhi on March 18, wherein he said the 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 address, adding that the country will soon witness a separate window for deeptech startups.

The DPIIT Secretary also spoke about the need for startups to convert their innovation into intellectual property rights for the gain of the nation and themselves.

"Extensive R&D is the answer for that and Government of India is in process of creating a separate dedicated deep tech startup policy. The policy paper is now in the 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 the 21st meeting of the Prime Minister's Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) on July 7, 2022, the creation of a national consortium and a working group was recommended which proposed a comprehensive policy framework for strengthening the needs of the Indian deeptech startup ecosystem.

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

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

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

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

The 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 the third-largest tech startup ecosystem in the 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 the technology in their solution stack. 

(With PTI Inputs)