Atal Incubation Centres

The Government of India has setup the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) at NITI Aayog. The overarching purpose of this Mission is to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in India. The scheme is being implemented by NITI Aayog.

Objectives of the Scheme

The objective of the scheme is to promote and establish world class incubation centres in specific subjects/sectors such as manufacturing, transport, energy, health, education, agriculture, water and sanitation etc. in India. These incubation centres would support and encourage innovative technology based start - ups that have an application and/or impact in the core sectors of the economy. The incubation centres would provide the start - ups with necessary guidance , tech support, infrastructure, access to investors, networking, and facilitating a host of other resources that may be required for the start - up to survive and scale.

Expected Functions of the AICs

• Assist the incubatees in creating a sustainable, scalable & profitable business model
• Build a dedicated, professional, and strong team with adequate knowledge and experience in guiding start-ups, building business plans, facilitating investments, building networks etc. This team is also required to have technical knowledge of the sector focus of the incubator.
• Provide state-of-art physical lab and other infrastructure as well as value-added support services.
• Create a strong network of mentors who would provide sector specific knowledge & real world practical guidance
• Conduct events and inspirational programs
• Provide trainings and mentorship to entrepreneurs
• Forge partnerships and networks with academia, industry, funding sources, existing incubators and others for the start - ups to leverage.
• Enable access to prototyping facilities, test beds, markets, and pilot implementation for the product /services.
• An ideal application would be a collaboration between a corporate sector entity and a research-oriented / academic institution with aligned areas of focus.

Features of the Scheme

1. The applicant pool for the scheme include a wide category of entities, such as higher educational institutions, R&D institutes, corporate sector, alternative investment funds registered with SEBI, business accelerators, group of individuals, and individuals. The applicant would have to provide at least 10,000 sq. ft. of ready-to-use, built-up space, for the exclusive use of the AIC.
2. The applicants must be legal entities which include (but not restricted to) Societies registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860, Trusts registered under the Indian Trusts Act 1882, Private Limited companies (including Section 8 and Section 25 companies) registered under the Companies Act 1956 or Companies Act 2013, statutory bodies i.e. entities created through Acts of Parliament, Alternate Investment Funds registered with SEBI. It is to be noted that no change in the applicant’s legal entity will be allowed at any stage in the application or during the project.
3. All applicants of the AIC Program must have a minimum of 3 years of existence at the time of application or the last date for the call of application.
4. Non-government applicants that are loss-making in any of the previous three years will not be considered. Further, non-government applicants need to have a minimum turnover which is equivalent to the proposed AIM Grants-in-Aid to be sanctioned. However, special considerations may be given to incubators focusing on social impact/strategic sectors/underserved regions or to institutions of eminence (subject to the approval of committee appointed by CEO, NITI Aayog).
5. 5 AICs can also be established by one or more collaborating entities (Consortiums). In case a consortium is applying for the AIC, the financials of the Lead Member will be considered for the financial aspects.
6. AICs are encouraged to focus on a limited number of areas, which align with their core strengths. The AIC should have up to a maximum of three primary sectors of focus. 

Financial Support

Successful applicants would be provided grants-in-aid to set up the AIC for a period of 5 years up to Rs 5 Crore (in case no lab facilities are established) and up to Rs. 10 Crore (in case of sector-specific lab facilities are established) to cover the capital and operational expenditures.

To know more about the scheme see the AIC scheme guidelines.

Source : AIM website