Lok Sabha Question No. 2017 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-03
Subject: Promotion of Innovation
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Meenakashi Lekhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT FOR PROMOTION OF INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL TRADE

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2017 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 3 RD  JULY, 2019.

## PROMOTION OF INNOVATION

## 2017.  SHRIMATI MEENAKASHI LEKHI:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state:

## वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री

- (a) whether the Government has launched any scheme to provide incubators for innovative idea in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof including the funds allocated for the purpose;
- (c) whether the Government is planning to invite foreign investments to promote innovation in the country; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## वाणिज् य एवं उद्योग मंत्री (श्री पीयूष गोयल) THE MINISTER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI  PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) & (b): Yes,  Sir.  Various  Government  Ministries/Departments  viz.  Ministry  of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Department of Science and Technology  (DST),  Department  of  Bio-technology  (DBT),  NITI  Aayog and Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  (MeitY)  have launched schemes in this regard. The details of such schemes are as under:
- I. Department  of  Science  &  Technology  has  launched  a  NIDHI program (National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations) under which programmes for setting up of incubators, seed fund, accelerators and 'Proof of concept' grant for innovators and entrepreneurs have been launched. Under NIDHI, PRAYAS (Promoting  and  Accelerating  Young  and  Aspiring  innovators  & Startups)  programme  has  been  initiated  in  which  established Technology Business Incubators (TBI) are supported with PRAYAS  grant  to  support  innovators  and  entrepreneurs  with grants for 'Proof of Concept'  and  developing  prototypes.  A maximum grant of Rs. 220 lakh is given to a TBI for establishing a PRAYAS Centre which includes Rs.100 lakh for PRAYAS SHALA, Rs. 20 lakh for operational cost of PRAYAS Centre and maximum of Rs. 10 lakh to one innovator for developing prototype. Funding for ten innovators is given to the TBI in a year.
- II. To  boost  the  entrepreneurial  spirit  in  India,  the  Atal  Innovation Mission (AIM), a flagship initiative of NITI Aayog, is supporting two programs for setting up and scaling up of incubation centres. The Atal  Incubation  Centres  (AICs)  scheme  supports  setting  up  of green  field  incubation  centres  that  nurture  innovative  start-up businesses  in  their  pursuit  to  become  scalable  and  sustainable enterprises. The Established Incubation Centres scheme provides scale-up  support  to  well  performing  existing  incubation  centres, referred to as Established Incubation Centers (EICs), where AIM intends  to  further  augment  their  performance  by  providing  them scale-up  support.  In  both  of  these  schemes,  AIM  is  providing grants of upto INR 10 Crores over a period of 3-5 years.
- III. Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India has taken various initiatives and measures to encourage  entrepreneurs to develop indigenous products in Information  and  Communications  Technology  (ICT)  domain  and also improve innovation-led ecosystem with scheme and programmes  to support researchers, start-ups  and  MSMEs. Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE) Scheme was put in place by MeitY in 2008 to promote innovation by nurturing startups in Information Technology, Communications & Electronics (ICTE) domain. Under the TIDE Scheme, financial assistance is provided to Institutions of Higher Learning to strengthen their Technology  Incubation  Centres  for  enabling young entrepreneurs to create technology startup companies for commercial  exploitation of technologies developed  by them. Enhanced  version  Technology  Incubation  and  Development  of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0) Scheme is to promote tech entrepreneurship through financial and technical support to incubators  engaged  in  supporting  ICT  startups  using  emerging technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Block-chain, Robotics etc.
- IV. Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), A Public Sector Undertaking of Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has been promoting incubators in biotechnology sector for innovative idea through following programmes:
- i) BIRAC BioNEST (BIRAC Bio-incubation: Nurturing Entrepreneurs for Scaling up Technology): BIRAC's Flagship programme which creates / supports world-class bioincubators  for  startups/  entrepreneurs  to  provide  incubation space,  mentor  networks,  instrumentation  facilities,  IP  and technology management support.
- ii) SEED(Sustaining Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Development) Fund: Equity  based funding support of up to Rs. 30 Lakh to startups and enterprises through bio-incubators for scaling up.
- iii) LEAP (Launching Entrepreneurial Driven Affordable Products  Fund  for  Start-ups)  Fund:  Equity  based  funding support of up to Rs 1 Cr to startups and enterprises implemented through Incubators for scaling enterprises.
- V. Ministry of Human Resource Development is setting up Incubation centers/Research Parks in the institutions of higher learning independently  or  in  conjunction  with  DBT  and  DST.  Further,  DST and  MHRD  have  jointly  taken  up  initiative  for  establishment  of Research  Parks,  Technology  Business  Incubators  and  Startup Centres.  The  objective  of  setting  up  Research  Parks  is  to  propel successful  innovation  through  incubation  and  joint  Research  and Development (R&D) efforts between academia and industry. Further, through Ucchatar Avishkar Yojana(UAY) Government aims to make students more accustomed with the outer world and give them market-oriented mind set.
- (c) & (d): No specific proposal to invite foreign investments to promote innovation in  the  country  is  under  consideration of  Department of Industrial Policy and  Promotion.  However,  Government  has  put  in  place  an  investorfriendly policy, wherein except for a small negative list, most sectors are open  for  100%  FDI  under  the  Automatic  route  including  innovation  / R&D, subject to applicable laws/ regulations; security and other conditionalities.

Further, to attract foreign investments in the country, and showcase its diverse market and transformative technology innovations to the Investors  across  the  world,  DPIIT  organized  the  Startup  India  Global Venture Capital Summit on 6 th and 7 th December 2018, bringing together over  250  participants  from  over  20  countries  across  the  globe.  The dialogue focused on the huge return-generating potential of India's vast and diverse market monetized through cutting-edge technologies supported by investor-friendly regulations. Multiple sessions and Roundtables  were  organized  for  foreign  investors  with  the  concerned government stakeholders to understand and solve for the regulatory and policy challenges faced for investments in India.

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