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NPAAYASIAS

NIDHI – Promoting and Accelerating Young and Aspiring Innovators and Startups (PRAYAS)

NationwideIndividualCentralCentrally Sponsored SchemeMinistry Of Science And TechnologyNo start date

myScheme’s own wording, reproduced in full. Where it is thin, that is the finding, and the completeness checks are below.

What this is

The scheme provides early-stage funding to support idea validation and proof of concept for technology-based and deep-tech innovations through PRAYAS Centres (PCs) and Advance PRAYAS Centres (APCs).

In detail

NIDHI – Promoting and Accelerating Young and Aspiring Innovators and Startups (PRAYAS) is a scheme of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. The scheme supports young innovators and startups in transforming innovative ideas into prototypes or proof of concept (PoC) by providing financial assistance of up to ₹10 lakh. It also offers access to incubation infrastructure, mentorship, technical and financial guidance, and industry linkages through Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) and PRAYAS Shalas (Fab Labs). The scheme aims to promote indigenous innovation, technology-based entrepreneurship, and the development of commercially viable products in line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission.

Objectives

The objectives of NIDHI – PRAYAS are :-

To enable translation of an innovative idea to a prototype.
To provide a platform for faster experimentation and modify approaches in the idea to market journey.
To indigenously generate innovative solutions relevant to the local and global problems.
To attract a large number of youth who demonstrate problem solving zeal and abilities to work on their new technology/knowledge/innovation-based startups.
To enhance the pipeline in terms of quality and quantity of innovative start ups to the incubators. To build a vibrant innovation ecosystem, by establishing a network between innovators, academia, mentors and incubators.

Who qualifies

A DPIIT recognised startup or an individual innovator are eligible to apply under the program.

In case of a recognised startup, it has to be incorporated in India, not more than 5 years of existence and its annual turnover for any financial year should not have exceeded ₹1 crore.

What you get

Level 1 – PCs: Each innovator/startup supported by a Level 1 Centre PC may receive up to ₹20 Lakhs grant for prototyping. DST provides up to ₹2 crore per annum to each PC.
Level 2 – APCs: Provides prototyping grants of up to ₹40 lakh per innovator/ startup. DST provides up to ₹4 crore per annum to each APC.

Listed by myScheme

Documentation completeness

4 of 9 checks passed

Checks are about the record,
not about the scheme.

✓

Eligibility published here301 characters

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Benefit amount published hereamount or quantity stated

✓

Description more than a name198 characters

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Implementing agency published herefield absent from the record

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How to apply published hereno URL and no offline mode declared

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Start date published herenot published

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End date published hereno end date recorded, so indefinite by omission

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Stored links well-formed1 of 2: scheme is file

✓

Not expired while still listedno end date

Malformed URL in a stored field

file:///C:/Users/ruchi/Downloads/1782664511911.pdf
reference field: scheme is file

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Provenance

Every field above, and where it came from

schemeName	NIDHI – Promoting and Accelerating Young and Aspiring Innovators and Startups (PRAYAS)	myScheme · 2026-09-02
schemeOpenDate	...	not published at source
schemeCloseDate	...	not published at source
nodalMinistryName	Ministry Of Science And Technology	myScheme · 2026-09-02
dbtScheme	False	myScheme · 2026-09-02
achievement data	...	no source publishes this for any central scheme