On Thursday, Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister, declared that the Centre would create a ₹1 trillion fund to support research and innovation in emerging fields. According to Sitharaman's budget speech, the fund will offer 50-year interest-free loans as well as long-term financing and refinancing for extended periods at low or no interest rates.

"This will be a golden era for our tech-savvy youth," Sitharaman declared. "The private sector will be encouraged to greatly increase research and innovation in sunrise sectors as a result. Programmes that harness the potential of technology and our young are essential," she stated.

The FM also declared the commencement of a new programme aimed at advancing "atmanirbharta" and bolstering deep-tech defensive technologies.

The announcement was well received by the startup and tech sectors, who anticipate that it will provide the necessary impetus for investments in research and development (R&D).

While there were no significant announcements for the technology or startup sectors in the 2024 Interim Budget, which was essentially a vote-on-account, it did highlight a few initiatives that demonstrate the government's ongoing commitment to supporting innovation and entrepreneurship.

"The plan for long-term financing and refinancing using this corpus highlights the dedication to establish India as a worldwide leader in the technology sector. The emphasis on youth skilling, upskilling, and reskilling will guarantee an industry-ready workforce to negotiate the challenges of a volatile marketplace, according to Sindhu Gangadharan, vice-chairperson of the GCC Council of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom).

"This will help the startups that are trying to do long-term oriented projects and have a long gestation period," stated Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl. These businesses would receive interest-free loans."

A 2022 Nasscom-Zinnov report states that approximately $500 million was invested in deep tech by Indian companies in 2023.

Over 3,000 startups are part of this ecosystem, the research claims. There are up to 1,900 artificial intelligence (AI) companies among them; 570 are focused on big data and analytics, 60 on robots, 60 on drones, 40 on cybersecurity, and 10 on space and satellite technology. In 2021, these firms raised a total of $2.7 billion, according to the research.

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