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Grant · India

NIDHI-PRAYAS 2.0 (Promotion and Acceleration of Young and Aspiring Innovators and Startups)

DST pre-incubation scheme that gives individual innovators and early startups a prototyping grant of up to ₹20 lakh, or up to ₹40 lakh for deeptech, through host incubators known as PRAYAS Centres.

Status unknown Run by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India

Visit the programme's site

Verified 18 October 2026 · From the programme's own pages

Terms

Funding
not published Prototyping grant of up to ₹20 lakh through a PRAYAS Centre, or up to ₹40 lakh through an Advance PRAYAS Centre for deeptech ideas; overall cap of ₹40 lakh per innovation. Full-time innovators with no other income may receive a sustenance allowance of up to 20% of the grant
Instrument
Grant
Equity taken
not published PRAYAS Centres may not take or hold equity in exchange for the grant, facilities or prototyping support
Programme fee
not published
Duration
65 weeks
Cohort size
not published
Cohorts
not published
Delivery
Remote
Stages
Idea, pre-seed
Sectors
Deep tech, Hardware, Energy, Medtech, Health tech, Agrifood
Open to founders from
India
Perks
  • Fab lab access
  • Mentoring
  • IPR and legal helpdesk
  • Co-working area

Project term of 15 months, extendable by up to 6 months. Innovators apply to designated PRAYAS Centres (host incubators) through the NIDHI PRAYAS portal using a common template; each centre's local committee selects. Priority areas include energy and climate, deep technology, hardware-based AI, medical devices, healthcare, digital agriculture, defence and manufacturing. The 19 May to 30 June 2026 call on the portal was for incubators applying to become PRAYAS Centres.

Application dates

Status unknown

Dates not published.

Who can apply

  • Individual innovator without a registered startup, or an early-stage startup
  • Innovators and co-founders aged 18 or over and Indian citizens
  • Startups incorporated in India no more than 5 years, at least 51% held by Indian citizens, turnover never above ₹1 crore
  • Tangible, science- or technology-based prototype not yet past MVP stage
  • Support available only once per innovator or startup
  • Stage: idea, pre-seed

What founders should check

  1. Equity: PRAYAS Centres may not take or hold equity in exchange for the grant, facilities or prototyping support. Ask for the exact stake before you accept a place.
  2. It does not publish a fee. Ask whether you pay for desks, services or the programme itself.
  3. It runs remotely. Check the time zone of live sessions.
  4. Dates for the next cohort are not published.

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