The government on Monday issued a Draft National Deep Tech Startup Policy to address the challenges faced by startups as well as for policy interventions to enhance the ecosystem. The draft policy is currently open for public feedback until September 15.
The policy released by a consortium chaired by principal scientific adviser to the government Ajay Kumar Sood, has outlined four key pillars: securing India’s economic future, progressing towards a knowledge-driven economy, bolstering national capability and sovereignty through the Atmanirbhar Bharat imperative, and encouraging ethical innovation.
The policy has defined deep tech startups with regard to different parameters based on various attributes such as maturity levels, applicability to different sectors, time frames and geographical boundaries, and contextual relevance.
According to the policy, a deep tech startup involves early-stage technologies based on scientific or engineering advancements, which are yet to be developed for any commercial applications. Further, it said a deep tech startup typically produces a solution along an unexplored pathway based on new knowledge within a scientific or engineering discipline or by combining knowledge from multiple disciplines.
According to Startup India’s database, there are 10,298 DPIIT-recognized startups classified across various sub-sectors within the larger deep tech space as of May 2023.
The key priorities for the government through this policy are nurturing research, development, and innovation, strengthening intellectual property regime, facilitating access to funding, infrastructure access and resource sharing, standards and certifications, among other things.
Further, the policy also proposes an organisation – The Centre for Deep Tech Translation to assess Indian research (publications, patents, etc.) for potential commercialisation.