By Vikrant Rana and Apalka Bareja
Introduction
Delhi, India’s vibrant capital, has long stood as the symbol of progress, diversity and opportunity. As a city teeming with top educational institutions, corporate headquarters, and a growing digital economy, it is uniquely positioned to lead the country’s next wave of innovation. As the capital of India, Delhi has always been a magnet for entrepreneurs from small-time traders in Chandni Chowk to founders of unicorn startups in Cyber Hub and Nehru Place. It’s a city that thrives on dreams. Now, with the launch of the Delhi Startup Policy 2025[1], the government is hoping to turn that raw entrepreneurial energy into something bigger something global.
The initiative to strengthen Delhi’s startup ecosystem and position it as the next Silicon Valley is a welcome move, offering a comprehensive range of financial and non-financial incentives. Aimed at supporting at least 5,000 startups by 2035, the policy aspires to create new opportunities for employment, promote sustainable and inclusive socio-economic growth, encourage innovation, and foster collaboration between industry and academia—while ensuring easier access to funding. If implemented effectively, this policy has the potential to be a transformative force, provided the proposed mechanisms are executed successfully.[2] At present a total of 189,040 startups are recognized by DPIIT[3] of which 17,215 [4]as on August 28,2025 have emerged from Delhi. Undoubtedly, Delhi’s contribution to the startup scheme is remarkable. To harness this momentum and lay the foundation for long-term, structured growth it is hoped that the Delhi Startup Policy will only transform the ambitions into impact.
Key Features
- Continuity of Incentive Beyond Policy Term
The Policy includes a sunset clause that ensures continuation of benefits beyond the period of 10 years. The Policy states that incentives proposed in the current policy will continue to be paid in years after as sunset years either:- As standalone or
- As part of new policy.
- Financial Incentives
- Lease reimbursement: up to INR 10 Lakh for 3 years
- IP reimbursement: up to INR 1 Lakh for domestic and up to INR 3 Lakh for patent/trademark/copyright/industrial design filing.
- Exhibition reimbursement: up to INR 5 Lakh for notified domestic events and up to INR 10 Lakh for notified international events once a year.
- Monthly allowance of INR 2,00,000 per month for a period of 1 year towards the operational cost.
- Reimbursement to women for Exhibitions: Upto INR 5.5 Lakh for notified domestic events and up to INR 11 for notified international events once a year.
- Venture Capital Fund: INR 200 Crore Delhi Startup Venture Capital Fund will be set up for providing access to finance to startups.
- Non-Financial Incentives
- Establishment of incubations centers and innovations labs.
- Single window clearance system for filing application and thereby reducing the regulatory burdens.
- Reductions of repetitive documentations thereby resulting in fast-track approvals for startup related compliances.
- Academic and Industry Collaboration
- Pro-active engagement of academia and industry to create the right environment to provide the requisite impetus for incubators and startups growth.
- Platform for mentorship and networking will be provided to startups
- Focusing on Inclusion
Providing higher reimbursement, reserved funding slots and priority to women led startups.
Impact
Building on the existing foundation, the policy takes a step further by providing financial assistance to startups. The mix of grants, reimbursements, and easier access to venture capital helps remove one of the big problems that startups face which is funding. By giving this sense of financial relief, startups can now focus on moving from ideas and concepts to market. Moreover, the important emphasis on inclusion of women led startup strongly affirms the quote “mhari Choriyan Choro se kam hai ke” ensuring that the that innovation isn’t limited to a privileged few but reflects the diversity of the city itself.
The policy clearly sets its sight for tomorrow as it recognizes and focuses on high-potential sectors like artificial intelligence, green technology, and robotics ensures that Delhi is not only keeping up with global innovation trends but also positioning itself as a hub for next-gen industries, attracting high-value investments and global talent. The future ready ecosystem empowers the youth from early on to think of innovation and its protection by providing reimbursements on all IP filings except GI.
What is Missing?
While the Delhi Startup Policy 2025 lays a promising foundation and signals the government’s strong intent to boost entrepreneurship, the real challenge lies in its execution. A recurring shortfall in many well-intentioned policies is the lack of mechanisms that ensure those benefits actually reach the ground. For instance, the formation of a Startup Task Force is a welcome step, but it misses a crucial element: legal representation. Startups operate at the intersection of two critical dimensions—business operations and legal frameworks. While the policy offers generous financial and infrastructural support, it overlooks the pressing need for accessible legal guidance.
In practice, many early-stage founders—especially those without a business background—end up giving away large equity stakes to investors in exchange for funding, often without fully understanding the long-term implications. Lacking awareness and access to affordable legal counsel, they tend to rely on investment and shareholder agreements provided by the investors themselves, which naturally favor the latter. This lack of legal literacy or structured legal support can, over time, compromise the founder’s control, restrict their decision-making power, and even derail the startup altogether. If legal professionals were empanelled within the startup support ecosystem, they could help founders understand, negotiate, and draft balanced agreements—ultimately protecting their vision and rights.
Additionally, the policy focuses heavily on the early stages, but does little to support startups post-launch. Many struggle with scaling due to compliance issues or lack of structured growth support. There’s also a noticeable gap in helping founders commercialize their innovations. Often, startups are not aware how to sell their product, and in some cases, their ideas are better suited for international markets. Providing mentorship, go-to-market strategy support, and assistance with global market access would greatly enhance the policy’s impact. To truly transform Delhi into a global startup hub, the policy must look beyond funding and infrastructure and address these critical operational and legal gaps.
Conclusion
The Delhi Startup Policy comes as a promising and bold policy aimed to transform and up the business spirit of young and booming start-ups. With the range of incentives it offers, it appears to lay a strong foundation and eco-system for startups. However, the policy’s real impact will depend upon on timely implementation, transparency, and consistent support. In order to truly achieve its vision, effective execution, continuous feedback, and expansion beyond the early stages are the need of the hour. Addressing gaps such as legal support, compliance infrastructure, and commercialization guidance will not only protect founders but also help promising ventures scale sustainably.