India Launches ₹10,000 Crore Tech Innovation Fund to Back Deep Tech Startups and AI Labs

The Government of India has announced a ₹10,000 crore ($1.2B USD) "Tech Innovation Fund" under the Ministry of Science and Technology to support startups in AI, quantum computing, space tech, and biotech. The fund will be administered through SIDBI and Startup India, with mentoring from IISc, IITs, and NASSCOM. Seed stage startups can apply for grants up to ₹5 crore. A separate stream will support academic labs converting research into prototypes. Experts say this fills a critical funding gap for deep tech founders and complements the Semicon India and Digital India initiatives. A first cohort of 85 startups is already under evaluation.