Parliament Question: Women-led Start-ups under NIDHI

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2830 ANSWERED ON 17/12/2025 WOMEN-LED START-UPS UNDER NIDHI

2830. DR. BYREDDY SHABARI:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY be pleased to

state:

(a) the details of the number of women-led startups supported under the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) since its inception, State and year-wise, vis-à-vis the targets set;

(b) the number of these startups provided early-stage funding under NIDHI-Seed Support Program (NIDHI-SSP), State/UT and startup-wise including the quantum of funding disbursed;

(c) the details of Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) established in women’s universities and other institutions, State/UT and year-wise along with the number of women-led startups incubated therein;

(d) the number of women-led startups that have successfully commercialized their products or services and generated employment; and

(e) the details of pending proposals or planned projects for establishing additional TBIs to further support women entrepreneurs and promote inclusiveness? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

(a) to (b): The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has initiated the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) program in year 2016. Through NIDHI program DST has provided support to science and technology (S&T) based startups, including women-led startups, in their early-stage startup journey.

Under NIDHI PRAYAS program, financial support is extended to S&T Page 1 of 6based startups for proof of concept (PoC) and prototype development.

Under NIDHI Seed Support Program (NIDHI SSP), funding is provided to early stage S&T based startups for technology and business development. These funding supports are provided through the NIDHI TBIs which have been established by DST across the country in premier academic institutions. These TBIs have a wide range of focus areas, such as agri-tech, heath-tech, artificial intelligence, electronics, space tech, etc. The NIDHI program of DST falls under the Central Sector Scheme and no dedicated state-wise budget/target is allocated.

Under NIDHI PRAYAS program, 501 women-led startups/women entrepreneurs have been supported for proof of concept and prototype development. Under NIDHI Seed Support Program, Rs. 66.50 Cr. has been disbursed to 213 women-led startups for commercialization of their prototypes into products. Year-wise and state-wise details of number of women innovators/women-led startups supported and funded under NIDHI are placed at Annexure-I and Annexure-II, respectively.

(c) Under NIDHI Technology Business Incubator (NIDHI TBI) program, TBIs are established in premier academic institutions for providing incubation support to the early-stage startups. The support to these startups is provided in terms of technical and business mentoring, intellectual property rights, legal, regulatory, funding, etc. Under the NIDHI Inclusive Technology Business Incubator (NIDHI iTBI) program, iTBIs have been established in the academic institutions in tier-2 and tier-3 cities to increase inclusivity of entrepreneurship ecosystem across the country. Year-wise and state-wise details of the NIDHI TBIs & NIDHI iTBIs, established by DST are placed at Annexure-III, and Annexure-IV, respectively. These incubators have incubated more than 1500 women-led startups.

(d) Under the NIDHI-SSP program, 167 women-led startups have been supported who have successfully commercialized their products or services, and have generated employment.

(e) There is currently no plan for setting up additional TBI in Vigyan Dhara central sector scheme to further support women entrepreneurs and promote inclusiveness during the current finance cycle.

Page 2 of 6ANNEXURE-I Women-led startups/women innovators supported under NIDHI program (Year-wise) Number of women-led startups/women innovators Financial Year supported and funded under NIDHI program 2017 - 2018 23 2018 - 2019 34 2019 - 2020 34 2020 - 2021 81 2021 - 2022 67 2022 - 2023 99 2023 - 2024 152 2024 - 2025 140 2025 - 2026 84 Total 714 Page 3 of 6ANNEXURE-II Women-led startups/women innovators supported under NIDHI program (State-wise) Number of women-led State/UT startups/women innovators supported and funded under NIDHI program Andhra Pradesh 24 Assam 6 Bihar 6 Chandigarh 2 Chhattisgarh 1 Delhi 30 Goa 2 Gujarat 40 Haryana 15 Himachal Pradesh 5 Jammu and Kashmir 12 Jharkhand 2 Karnataka 148 Kerala 49 Madhya Pradesh 11 Maharashtra 96 Manipur 3 Odisha 25 Punjab 2 Rajasthan 23 Tamil Nadu 107 Telangana 60 Uttar Pradesh 25 Uttarakhand 8 West Bengal 12 Total 714 Page 4 of 6ANNEXURE-III Number of TBIs/iTBIs established under NIDHI program (Year-wise) Year Number of TBIs/iTBIs established under NIDHI program 2017-18 9 2018-19 10 2019-20 9 2020-21 2 2021-22 8 2022-23 30 2023-24 9 2024-25 8 Total 85 Page 5 of 6ANNEXURE-IV Number of TBIs/iTBIs established under NIDHI program (State-wise) Number of TBIs/iTBIs established State/UT under NIDHI program Andhra Pradesh 9 Assam 2 Bihar 2 Chhattisgarh 4 Delhi 4 Goa 1 Gujarat 6 Haryana 1 Himachal Pradesh 2 Jammu and Kashmir 4 Karnataka 6 Madhya Pradesh 3 Maharashtra 8 Mizoram 1 Odisha 3 Punjab 6 Rajasthan 2 Tamil Nadu 7 Telangana 3 Tripura 1 Uttar Pradesh 7 Uttarakhand 2 West Bengal 1 Total 85 ***** Page 6 of 6