(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?
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THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI C.R. CHAUDHARY)
(a) & (b): Yes, Madam. Various Government Departments viz. Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Bio-technology (DBT), NITI Aayog have launched schemes in this regard.
I) MHRD is setting up Incubation centers/Research Parks in the institutions of higher learning independently or in conjunction with DBT and DST. MHRD had set up one such Research Park at IIT Madras. Further, DST and MHRD have jointly taken up initiative for establishment of Research Parks, Technology Business Incubators and Startup Centres. A National Expert Advisory Committee (NEAC) was constituted and 15 Startup Centres, 15 Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) and 6 Research Parks were selected. Lists of the institutions are provided at Annexure .
II) DST has also launched a program named NIDHI-PRAYAS (National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations - Promoting and Accelerating Young and Aspiring innovators & startups) in which established Technology Business Incubators (TBI) are supported with PRAYAS grant to support innovators and incubatee 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.
III) DBT through its Public Sector Enterprise Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Scheme (BIRAC) has launched Bio-incubators Nurturing Entrepreneurship for Scaling Technologies (BioNEST) programme with an aim to establish world class incubation centers across the country. BioNEST programme provides support to establish bio-incubators either as a standalone entity or as a part of the academia. So far, 30 bio-incubators in the country with a cumulative area of 3,00,000 sq. ft. for budding entrepreneurs have been supported with a total sanctioned cost of Rs. 212 crore.
IV) The Atal Innovation Mission at NITI Aayog runs a programme called Atal Incubation Centres, which provides grants to establish and scale up incubators. These incubators can assist startups and innovators to commercialize their technologies. An amount of Rs 500 crore was allocated for Atal Innovation Mission, for all its programmes. As of 2017-18, 19 incubators have been selected for support with a maximum of Rs 10 crore each, but varying according to their stated needs in their business plans.
V) Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has also setup the Startup India Online Hub which provides a comprehensive list of incubators which are available throughout the country for Startups who are interested in developing their innovative ideas.
(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 investor- friendly 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, in order to promote innovation in the country, the India-Israel Innovation Bridge was launched on 6th July 2017. The bridge is a technology platform that facilitates cooperation between Indian and Israeli Startups, tech hubs, corporations and other key innovation eco-system players. As part of this, an innovation challenge was launched to invite solution for critical problems in the field of Agriculture, Water and Digital Health. This initiative will allow innovative Startups from Israel to explore setting up their business in India, thereby attracting foreign investments.
Similarly, DIPP has also setup the ‘India Portugal Startup Hub’ and the ‘Sweden India Startup Sambandh Hub’ portals on the Startup India Hub, to attract and facilitate innovative Startups from Portugal and Sweden to explore the Indian markets.
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