Money the government has already set aside for your startup.
Most founders miss these because the schemes sit on thirty different ministry websites. This is all of them in one place — what each one gives, who qualifies, and the exact page where you apply. Filter by what you need, not by which department runs it.
Two registrations unlock almost everything
Nearly every scheme below asks for one of these two credentials. Both are free, both are online, and the rules for both changed in 2025–26 — so check your numbers against the current thresholds, not the ones in older guides.
DPIIT Startup Recognition
- Entity
- Pvt Ltd company, LLP, registered partnership, cooperative society or multi-state cooperative. Sole proprietorships don't qualify.
- Age
- Up to 10 years from incorporation — 20 years if recognised as a Deep Tech Startup.
- Turnover
- Under ₹200 crore in any year since incorporation — ₹300 crore for Deep Tech Startups. (Raised from ₹100 crore in Feb 2026.)
- Test
- Must show innovation, improvement or scalability. Cannot be formed by splitting or reconstructing an existing business.
- Cost
- Free. Apply on the Startup India / NSWS portal. No agency is authorised to charge a government fee.
Separate step: the Section 80-IAC tax holiday (100% profit deduction for any 3 consecutive years out of the first 10) needs a further Inter-Ministerial Board certification, and turnover must stay under ₹100 crore in the year claimed. Incorporation must fall between 1 Apr 2016 and 31 Mar 2030. Angel tax was abolished for everyone from 1 April 2025, so that is no longer a reason to seek recognition.
Udyam (MSME) Registration
- Micro
- Investment ≤ ₹2.5 crore and turnover ≤ ₹10 crore
- Small
- Investment ≤ ₹25 crore and turnover ≤ ₹100 crore
- Medium
- Investment ≤ ₹125 crore and turnover ≤ ₹500 crore
- Both
- Composite criteria — cross either ceiling and you move up a category. One definition covers manufacturing and services alike.
- Cost
- Free, on the Udyam portal. Informal micro units can use Udyam Assist.
What registration buys you: priority sector lending, 25% of central government procurement reserved for MSMEs (4% for SC/ST-owned units), EMD and tender fee exemptions on GeM, and the 45-day payment rule under the MSMED Act — with compound interest at three times the RBI bank rate on late payments, enforceable through the MSME Samadhaan portal.
Find your scheme
Search by name, ministry, sector or keyword — or stack the filters. "Startups only" marks schemes where startups are the named beneficiary; the rest are open to MSMEs, companies and individuals too, and startups regularly win them.
How to actually get one of these
Get DPIIT recognition first, before anything else
It gates the Seed Fund, the credit guarantee, iDEX, IN-SPACe, RKVY, patent rebates and GeM relaxations. The single biggest rejection reason is a vague innovation write-up. Name the problem, the solution, the specific technology, your evidence that it works, and why it scales. Generic language reads as a template and gets sent back.
Match the scheme to your stage, not to the biggest number
A ₹25 crore ADITI grant is unwinnable at prototype stage; a ₹5 lakh RKVY pre-seed grant is beneath a company with revenue. Applying at the wrong stage burns a cycle and, for schemes with fixed annual calls, a whole year.
Watch the prior-support ceilings
Several schemes disqualify you if you have already taken government money. The Seed Fund caps prior central or state support at ₹10 lakh. The IN-SPACe Seed Fund caps it at ₹50 lakh. Sequence your applications so an early small grant doesn't lock you out of a larger one.
Go through an incubator where one is required
The Seed Fund, PRAYAS, BIG, GREAT, TDF and the BIRAC funds all disburse through approved incubators, not directly. Pick incubators by domain fit — on the Seed Fund portal you rank three, and funding follows your preference order, so the ranking is a real decision.
Stack schemes deliberately
Most are non-exclusive across different stages of the same product. A biotech founder can run BIG for proof of concept, then SEED or LEAP through BioNEST, then approach an AcE daughter fund. A defence startup can move iDEX SPARK → ADITI → procurement. Read each scheme's exclusion clause before assuming.
Check the window is open before you build a plan around it
BIG calls open roughly every January and July. Seed Fund, iDEX, DCIS and NQM run on cohorts or challenge cycles. The last Seed Fund application date was 31 May 2026 with disbursals continuing — a new window may or may not open. Always confirm on the scheme's own portal, dates move.
Don't stop at the Centre
Every state and UT runs its own startup policy with additional seed grants, patent reimbursement, rent and power subsidies, and payroll support. These stack on top of central schemes. Start at the Startup India state policies page, then go to your state's own startup portal.