Union Government launches NIDHI for nurturing ideas and innovation into start ups

Union Government on 6 September 2016 launched a new program called National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI). The initiative aims at nurturing ideas and innovation into successful start ups.

NIDHI, an umbrella programme of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), will focus on helping startups to meet their funding, infrastructure and other mentorship needs. NIDHI will allow youths of the country to give a concrete shape to their ideas.

National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations

• The programme focuses on building a seamless and innovation driven entrepreneurial ecosystem especially by channelizing youth towards it and thereby bringing in the positive impact on the socio-economic development of the country.

• It aims at providing technological solutions not only to the pressing needs of the society but also targets to create new avenues for wealth and job creation.

• By design it connects and strengthens all the links of the innovation chain from scouting to sustaining to securing to scaling to showcasing, because a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

• There are eight component of NIDHI that support each stage of a budding startup from idea to market. The first component is PRAYAS (Promoting and accelerating young and aspiring innovators and startups) which aims to support innovators to grant up to 10 lakh rupees.

• The final component is the Seed Support System which provides up to One Crore rupees per start-up and is implemented through Technology Business Incubators.

During the financial year 2016-17, Department of Science has allocated 180 crore rupees, with a view to drive the innovation and startup centric new initiative.

Key stakeholders

The key stakeholders of NIDHI includes various departments and ministries of the Union government, state governments, academic and R & D institutions, mentors, financial institutions, angel investors, venture capitalists, industry champions and private sectors.

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