Chandigarh startup policy gets Kataria’s nod
Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria has given his nod to the Chandigarh Startup Policy-2025, which focuses on encouraging innovation and economic growth. A notification will be issued within a week.
According to officials, the UT Administrator approved the policy on April 7 and it could be rolled out within a week. It is aimed at boosting entrepreneurship with financial incentives worth Rs 10 crore annually and a total corpus of Rs 50 crore over a period of five years. After multiple revisions and delays, the main focus of the policy has been kept on developing startups and strengthening incubators in the region.
On September 3, 2022, the UT Administration unveiled the draft startup policy with a dedicated fund for the local startup ecosystem.
In October last year, Kataria approved the policy with some suggestions. He emphasised the need to simplify the administrative procedure.
Under the policy, three government higher education institutions (HEIs) and one private HEI will be designated as UT-recognised incubators. Each government incubator will receive up to Rs 30 lakh, while the private one will get Rs 20 lakh for technology upgrades. Additionally, an annual sustenance allowance of Rs 7.5 lakh will be provided per incubator for operational expenses. To support mentorship and training, incubators will also receive Rs 5 lakh annually.
To encourage entrepreneurship, the Administration has earmarked Rs 90 lakh for a grand startup competition. Each year, the top 20 startups will receive a grant of Rs 2 lakh, along with incubation support for one year, while the next 50 runners-up will be awarded Rs 1 lakh each.
For seed-stage and early-growth startups, a Rs 4.6-crore corpus has been set aside. Under seed-stage startups, 20 eligible ventures will receive up to Rs 7 lakh each, with an additional Rs 2 lakh for women-led and transgender-founded ventures. Under early-growth startups, 20 eligible ones will get up to Rs 12 lakh each to support commercialisation.
The policy also includes reimbursement-based fiscal incentives, such as subsidised rent of Rs 5,000 for office space per month, support of Rs 1 lakh for IT and quality certifications, etc.
Chandigarh