The Delhi government, led by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, has approved the establishment of the Go-Delhi Foundation with a ₹50 crore corpus to support young innovators and , the chief minister’s office announced on Sunday (18 October).
The approval came at a recent Cabinet meeting chaired by Gupta, with the funding intended to help turn ideas into products and bring them to market, PTI reported.
CM approves Go-Delhi Foundation: Here’s what it’ll do
The Go-Delhi Foundation aims to support young people, researchers and entrepreneurs in turning their ideas into practical products and viable businesses in the national capital, which is home to roughly 21,000 startups recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade ().
The foundation will bring together resources on a common platform to support new businesses, draw investment and generate jobs, the Delhi CMO said in a statement.
The said startups and micro, small and medium enterprises () across the capital would gain access to laboratories, testing facilities, prototyping and product engineering services through the foundation. Technical advice, mentoring, incubation and business assistance, alongside connections with investors, would help them develop initial concepts into market-ready products.
The initiative would also assist entrepreneurs with certification preparation and access to markets. By bringing these services together, the foundation aims to reduce the need to approach multiple facilities and simplify the process of starting and expanding a business in .
Go-Delhi Foundation to connect innovators with govt, industry
The foundation will also enable government departments to present practical problems to innovators across the capital. The CM added that products and technologies developed to tackle these problems could be tested through pilot projects, with successful solutions taken forward for adoption.
This would help departments find useful while giving startups a chance to demonstrate how their products work in practice.
According to the statement, the foundation will collaborate with businesses, academic institutions, investors and other partners. Its programmes will operate through a hub-and-spoke network using existing facilities and partner institutions across the capital.
It will be set up as a not-for-profit company under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, and operate under the Delhi government’s Department of Industries, the statement added.
Delhi govt’s startup push
The Go-Delhi Foundation’s approval follows the government’s adoption of the Delhi Start-up and Incubation Policy in July. The ₹400-crore initiative aims to create incubation centres in state-run higher education institutions and fund startups over five years.
The first phase proposes centres at 11 state universities, 13 government-aided colleges, polytechnics, Industrial Training Institutes () and government schools. Startups linked to these centres would receive financial assistance as they meet milestones at different stages of development, Hindustan Times reported.
(with PTI inputs)