New Delhi: The Delhi Cabinet has approved the Delhi Start-up and Incubation policy, a ₹400-crore plan to establish incubation centres across state-run higher education institutions and provide financial support to start-ups over the next five years, according to an official statement released on Thursday.
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“The policy is not just about helping people launch start-ups, but about transforming Delhi’s youth from job seekers into job creators. We want to ensure that students, researchers, teachers, alumni and aspiring entrepreneurs with promising ideas never face a shortage of resources, mentorship or financial assistance to take those ideas forward,” said chief minister Rekha Gupta.
Details
The policy, cleared by the cabinet on Tuesday, aims to set up incubation centres in 11 state universities, 13 government-aided colleges, polytechnic institutions, Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and government schools in its first phase.
The centres will provide infrastructure, mentoring, business advisory services, intellectual property support, access to laboratories and testing facilities and opportunities to connect with investors and industry, the statement read.
According to the government, eligible institutions will receive one-time financial assistance to establish or strengthen incubation centres, along with annual operational support for mentoring, networking, innovation activities and ecosystem development.
Start-ups associated with these incubation centres will receive milestone-based financial assistance at different stages of growth. The support will cover prototype development, proof of concept, product development, market validation and commercialisation, enabling ventures to progress from the idea stage to market entry, the statement read.
Implementation of the policy will be overseen by the state incubation policy monitoring committee, which will include representatives from the government, educational institutions, industry and the start-up ecosystem. The committee will monitor implementation, ensure transparent governance and oversee performance-based financial support for incubation centres and start-ups.
The government also announced that it will organise an annual Delhi start-up youth festival as part of the policy. The event will bring together students, entrepreneurs, educational institutions, investors, industry representatives and policymakers to showcase innovations, facilitate partnerships and promote entrepreneurship.
