Atal Incubation Centres (AICs)
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog
AIM's notice (Oct 2026): AIC application portal not currently open. 72 AICs operational; 3,500+ startups supported across AIM incubators.
What changed: Portal closed
Note: this scheme funds incubators and institutions. Startups benefit indirectly — through the incubators it supports.
Sources (1)
Academic and non-academic institutions can apply to AIM to set up Atal Incubation Centres (AICs) that provide infrastructure and access to sectoral expertise to innovative startups.
Objectives
Atal Incubation Centres (AICs) aim to promote and establish world-class, sector-specific incubation centres. The AICs provide physical infrastructure, access to sectoral experts for mentoring, business planning support, access to seed capital, industry partners, and capacity building, among others to encourage innovative startups.
Who can apply?
- Academic institutions such as higher educational institutes, R&D institutes, etc.
- Non-academic institutions such as corporate sector enterprises, alternative investment funds registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI),
- Business accelerators, groups of individuals, and individuals, etc. are eligible to apply
What do you get?
- Successful applicants would be provided grants-in-aid to set up the AIC for a period of 5 years to cover the capital and operational expenditures.
- Up to ₹5 crore (in case no lab facilities are established) and Up to ₹10 crore (in case of sector-specific lab facilities are established)
- In the case of government applicants, no matching contribution is applicable.
- In the case of non-government applicants, matching grants-in-aid shall be applicable in the range of 25% to 100%, based on the nature of the applicant.
How to apply
Interested applicants may visit https://aim.gov.in/aic-overview.php to know more.