The Budget strengthens India's startup sector with Rs10,000 crore for the Fund of Funds Scheme and Rs20,000 crore for deeptech R&D
AIFs for startups have received commitments of more than Rs91,000 crore. These are supported by a fund of funds set up by the Government of India with a contribution of Rs10,000 crore.
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a series of initiatives to push India's startup ecosystem forward. These measures aim to address challenges faced by startups, including access to funding, tax regulations and infrastructure development.
The announcements include a fresh infusion of Rs10,000 crore into the Fund of Funds Scheme (FFS), which provides capital to Sebi-registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) that invest in startups. The move is expected to catalyse innovation across sectors like deeptech, AI, fintech, health tech and clean energy.
“AIFs for startups have received commitments of more than Rs91,000 crore. These are supported by a fund of funds set up by the Government of India with a contribution of Rs10,000 crore. Now a New Fund of Funds scheme with an expanded scope and a fresh contribution of another Rs10,000 crore will be set up,” Sitharaman said.
The Fund of Funds for Startups Scheme was approved and established in June 2016 with a corpus of Rs10,000 crore to lift the Indian startups and enable access to domestic capital. The scheme is operationalised by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).