The Maharashtra government is actively working on raising substantial resources to finance innovation, startups, incubators, and accelerators across the state. All state government departments have been instructed to allocate 0.5% of their departmental budgets toward innovation and decentralised regional innovation funds.
Shrikant Patil, the Chief Executive Officer of the Maharashtra State Innovation Society (MSInS), estimates that this initiative could create a funding pool of ₹4,000-5,000 crore to support innovations and startups. The MSInS will serve as the central agency, collaborating with all departments to act as an interface for startups.
Plans include seed funding, a state-backed venture fund, and a fund-of-funds. The state aims to attract global funding and is in discussions with potential investors in the Middle East, Patil informed startups and incubators in Pune.
Strategic Vision: The 2025 Startup & Innovation Policy
These initiatives form part of the proposals under the Maharashtra Startup, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation Policy 2025, which aims to nurture 50,000 startups within five years.
The allocated funds will support incubators and accelerators, promote deep-tech sectors, and enhance startup access to pilots, procurement, and scale-up opportunities. Currently, Maharashtra has 33,000 registered startups.
The state provides funding for startups through the Maharashtra Social Venture Fund in partnership with SIDBI, as well as the Maharashtra Defence and Aerospace Fund and the Innovation and Technology Fund in collaboration with IDBI Capital. Furthermore, the Chief Minister’s MahaFund is set to support 25,000 startups over the next five years, promoting entrepreneurship in every district.
This initiative is part of a three-tier innovation structure being developed in the state, which includes local innovation centres at the district level to foster rural entrepreneurship, regional innovation centres, and a state-level innovation centre in the proposed Innovation City near the Navi Mumbai International Airport.
Quality Control: Benchmarking and Scaling Incubators
Additionally, the state is establishing a platform with a dashboard of incubators. A framework for standard operating procedures and key responsibilities for incubators will be implemented to eliminate underperforming incubators, Patil said. Currently, Maharashtra has 29 incubators, with around 70% operating successfully, according to Patil.
MSInS plans to set up three to four large regional innovation centres in the state, including a 500-seat centre in Pune. The goal is to create a total of 2,500 seats across various innovation centres in Maharashtra this year.
The Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries, and Agriculture (MCCIA) and MSInS recently organised a dialogue in Pune with 50 startups and 25 incubators to strengthen the ecosystem. This dialogue focused on the implementation roadmap for the Maharashtra State Startup & Innovation Policy 2025.
MCCIA and MSInS will collaborate to operate the Maharashtra Startup Helpline, which aims to provide initial guidance to startups and MSMEs across the state. The helpline connects entrepreneurs with subject-matter experts, incubation centres, and relevant government schemes, with a particular emphasis on supporting founders from non-metro regions.