New Delhi [India], September 6 : Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday held a meeting with investors and startup founders on the Delhi Startup and Incubation Policy 2026, assuring the state government’s support for startups intending to “do a lot” in the field of innovation.
Gupta said that the owners of “outstanding startups” from across the country and their CEOs have given suggestions on how the path envisioned by the Delhi government could be “made even better”. She said that the government was thinking about open incubation centres.
"It's a matter of great joy that the promise we made to Delhi's youth, we are advancing it very successfully. Under the Delhi Startup and Incubation Policy 2026, for Delhi's startups, we had thought of solutions to open incubation centres in Delhi University, colleges, and schools. The path we had envisioned today, owners of truly outstanding startups from across the country and their CEOs have given suggestions on how it can be made even better,” the CM said while addressing a press conference here.
“We assure Delhi's youth that through the startup policy, every startup that wants to do a lot in the field of innovation will receive the government's support, and to develop its entire domain, we will provide it with support. This government initiative will go very far ahead, and everyone will join it,” Gupta said.
The CM was accompanied by Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood during the meeting.
Sood outlined the state government's push to revitalise the capital's entrepreneurial landscape through a major financial allocation under the Delhi Start-Up and Incubation Policy 2026.
The state government has set aside ₹400 crore to fund incubation infrastructure, mentorship programs, and direct incentives for local entrepreneurs under the 2026 policy.
Addressing the city's underutilised potential, Sood highlighted that despite Delhi possessing key institutional advantages, it has fallen behind the nationwide surge in entrepreneurial growth over the past decade.
"Under the Delhi Start-Up and Incubation Policy 2026, the Delhi government has made a provision of Rs 400 crore to boost Delhi's startup ecosystem. After 2014, with the rapid growth of the startup ecosystem across the country, startups have grown from around 350 to over 2 lakhs,” the minister said.
“Delhi has institutions, a capital, an intelligent mindset, and some of the country's premier institutes. Yet Delhi has lagged in developing the startup ecosystem it should have, missing out on the potential of its youth's talent, hard work, and job-creation capacity," he added.
While India’s national startup footprint expanded exponentially from roughly 350 registered ventures in 2014 to over 200,000 nationwide, Delhi aims to reclaim its position as a primary innovation hub.
The fresh initiative targets bridging the gap between Delhi's elite educational and research institutions and its aspiring founders, unlocking job-creation opportunities across various emerging sectors.