NIDHI-PRAYAS

Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India was established in May 1971, with the objective of promoting new areas of Science & Technology (S&T) and to play the role of a nodal department for organising, coordinating and promoting S&T activities in the country. The Department has major responsibilities for formulation of policies related to S&T and specific projects and programmes related to S&T.

The Technology Translation, and Innovation (TTI) Division of Department of Science and Technology plays a pivotal role in driving scientific and technological advancements in the country. One of the key initiatives of TTI Division is the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) an umbrella program, which focuses on nurturing and supporting start-ups and individual innovators from proof of concept to commercialization. This program exemplifies the division's commitment to translating research into practical applications, foster indigenously developed innovations and product in alignment with the nation's "AtmaNirbharBharat Mission" and promoting entrepreneurship in technology.

The TTI Division facilitates collaborations with industry and academia, supports policy development in science and technology, and provides crucial funding for innovative projects and for conversion of Proof-of-Concepts for technologies /techniques/ processes/ products into advanced prototypes for validation and demonstration. The Division has also supported many projects for the development of instruments/devices/technologies at various R&D institutions.

National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) is an umbrella program conceived and developed by the DST-NSTEDB, for nurturing ideas and innovations (knowledge-based and technology-driven) into successful startups. The program works in line with national priorities, with a focus to build an innovation driven entrepreneurial ecosystem for socioeconomic development.

NIDHI aims to nurture start-ups through scouting, supporting and scaling of innovations. Key stakeholders include various departments and ministries, state governments, academic and R&D institutions, incubators, mentors, financial institutions, angel investors, venture capitalists and private sectors.

Key components of NIDHI:

1. NIDHI-GCC - Grand Challenges and Competitions for scouting innovations
2. NIDHI-PRAYAS - Support from Idea to Prototype
3. NIDHI-EIR - Entrepreneur in Residence, support system to reduce risk
4. NIDHI-TBI - Technology Business Incubator, converting innovations to start-ups
5. NIDHI-Accelerator - Fast tracking start-ups through focused intervention
6. NIDHI-SSS - Seed Support System, providing early stage investment
7. NIDHI-CoE - Centres of Excellence, world class facility to help startups go global

Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) is a not-for-profit organisation at IIT Bombay for fostering entrepreneurship and nurturing S&T based start-ups. It administers a business incubator which facilitates the conversion of research activity into entrepreneurial ventures by providing 'Start to scale' support to innovators and startups. Set up in 2004, it is one of the earliest incubators in academia with a potential to create startups focusing on economic growth, strategic value and social relevance. It offers pre-incubation programs, incubation support to tech startups and also runs accelerator programs in corporate partnership.

SINE has been selected as "Centre of Excellence" by DST with funding support to scale up its activities. It has also been approved BIRAC support under DBT to set up a Bio incubator 'BioNEST' to support bio-med-tech startups. SINE is also supported by MeitY.