Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) functions under India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry and serves as the nodal authority for the Startup India initiative, which the Government of India launched on 16 January 2016. The department was first constituted in 1995 as the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and took its present name in 2019. Working out of New Delhi, it frames policy for startup-related regulations, incentives and government schemes.

DPIIT recognition is the principal credential available to an early-stage Indian startup. By 2025, more than 1,97,000 startups had been recognised, placing India third among the world's startup ecosystems, with over 21 lakh jobs created. Eligibility requires incorporation as a Private Limited Company, LLP or Registered Partnership Firm, a span of no more than 10 years from incorporation, annual turnover within ₹200 crore, and work on an innovative product, process or service with high scalability potential.

Several programmes sit under the initiative. The Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) routes a ₹10,000 crore corpus through SIDBI into 120+ SEBI-registered AIFs that invest in DPIIT-recognised startups; FFS 2.0, also of ₹10,000 crore, was announced in 2024. The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) offers grants up to ₹20 lakh for proof-of-concept and prototyping, and up to ₹50 lakh as soft loans or convertible debentures for market entry, disbursed through selected incubators. The Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS) supports collateral-free debt funding up to ₹10 crore per startup. Tax benefits include a three-year income tax holiday on profits (Sec 80-IAC), deferred taxation on ESOPs and angel tax exemption on investments from recognised investors. Patent filing fees are reduced by 80% and trademark fees by 50%, with expedited examination for recognised startups. Self-certification is available for 9 labour laws and 3 environmental laws for up to 3–5 years.

Any incorporated Indian entity, from first-time founders at ideation stage to revenue-generating growth-stage companies, stands to gain from DPIIT recognition, since most government schemes and state-level benefits are gated behind it. It is particularly relevant to deep-tech, hardware, agritech, health and SaaS startups seeking grants, subsidised IP filings and government procurement opportunities.