NIDHI-PRAYAS 2.0 - Advance PRAYAS Centre Grant

Department of Science and Technology - NIDHI·India

Up to Rs 40 lakh prototype grant over a maximum 15 months for deep-tech projects with measurable TRL milestones, applied for at an Advance PRAYAS Centre.

What you get

up to ₹4,000,000Cash

“Applicants who have received NIDHI PRAYAS 1.0 funding are eligible to apply to PRAYAS 2.0 only at an Advanced PRAYAS Centre (APC), for a maximum grant of ₹40 lakh.”

Duration15 months

Equity takenNone, non-dilutive

Strings attachedTotal NIDHI PRAYAS 2.0 grant support for any innovation should not exceed ₹40 lakh, including the support received under PRAYAS 1.0. Creation of registered IP rights (patents, designs, etc.) fully owned by an Indian entity. Innovators shall also not be supported in parallel under NIDHI-EIR and NIDHI-PRAYAS.

Can you apply

VC backingNot required

Referral or partnerRequired

Registered companyNot required

IndividualsEligible

Open sourceNot required

CountriesIndia

Before you applyApplicant must be at least 18 years of age on the date of application, with proof of age and Indian citizenship. Must demonstrate clear ownership, or licensed right to use, of any intellectual property underpinning the proposed prototype. Applicants who have cumulatively received more than ₹40 lakh in grant funding from government schemes or programmes are not eligible. Applications go to an Advance PRAYAS Centre, not to DST. PRAYASEEs who receive funding from an APC are not eligible to receive PRAYAS 2.0 grants from any PC; those who have received funding from a PC may apply at an APC for the balance amount up to ₹40 lakh.

Specific Criteria of Innovators / Startups for Applying to Advance PRAYAS Centres (APC). Nature of Supported Projects: Industry-transforming deep-tech products or processes with clear global impact and commercial potential. Well-defined technology-development and de-risking objectives, with measurable TRL milestones (e.g., TRL 3-4 to TRL 6). Focus on building and testing a market-validated prototype within 15 months. Activities focused on generating empirical data to validate product performance, achieve regulatory compliance, and demonstrate mass manufacturing scalability. Not be considered under NIDHI-PRAYAS: Projects related to Pure Software development, e-Commerce, Service solutions, App based solutions.

When

Always open, applications reviewed on a rolling basis.

What Department of Science and Technology - NIDHI funds

India's science ministry programme for developing and harnessing innovations. NIDHI-PRAYAS gives individual innovators and early stage startups prototype funding through a network of PRAYAS Centres hosted at technology business incubators, and is the rare central scheme an unincorporated individual can apply to.

Everything Department of Science and Technology - NIDHI funds →

Details

The higher NIDHI-PRAYAS 2.0 tier, with a different bar from the standard PRAYAS Centre route: it expects industry-transforming deep-tech products or processes, well-defined de-risking objectives with measurable TRL milestones such as TRL 3-4 to TRL 6, and a market-validated prototype within 15 months. Technologies aligned with national strategic priorities including AI-hardware get preference. Applicants who already took PRAYAS 1.0 funding can only apply at this tier. Rejection at an APC's PLMC bars any later application to a standard PRAYAS Centre.

Apply on Department of Science and Technology - NIDHI