The Atal Innovation Mission's Continuation is Approved by the Cabinet

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

Nov 27, 2024 — 3 min read

Atal Innovation Mission Gets Cabinet Nod for Continuation

Under the direction of NITI Aayog, the Union Cabinet, presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has authorised the continuation of its flagship programme, the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), with an expanded scope of work and a budget of INR 2,750 crore for the period ending March 31, 2028. India's existing thriving innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem is to be strengthened, deepened, and expanded through AIM 2.0, a step towards Viksit Bharat.

The government's dedication to developing a strong innovation and entrepreneurial environment in India is demonstrated by the clearance. The upcoming Atal Innovation Mission (AIM 2.0) phase is anticipated to further boost India's global competitiveness, as the country is home to the third-largest start-up ecosystem in the world and ranks 39th on the Global Innovation Index. AIM's continued existence will directly support the development of better jobs, cutting-edge goods, and high-impact services across a variety of industries.

AIM 2.0 Marking Qualitative Shift in the Mission’s Approach

AIM 2.0 represents a qualitative change in the mission's strategy while expanding on the achievements of AIM 1.0, such as Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and Atal Incubation Centres (AIC). AIM 2.0 entails piloting new initiatives intended to close gaps in the ecosystem and scaling successes through the federal and state governments, industry, academia, and community, in contrast to AIM 1.0, which involved implementing programmes that created new innovation infrastructure to strengthen India's then-nascent ecosystem.

India's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem will be strengthened by AIM 2.0 in three ways: (a) increasing input (meaning more innovators and entrepreneurs will be welcomed), (b) increasing the success rate or "throughput" (meaning more startups will be helped to succeed), and (c) improving the quality of "output" (meaning better jobs, goods, and services will be produced).

Strengthening the Ecosystem

The Language Inclusive Program of Innovation (LIPI) aims to reduce the barriers to entry for innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors who do not speak English by creating innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems in India's 22 scheduled languages. Existing incubators will host 30 Vernacular Innovation Centres.

For the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Ladakh, the Northeastern states (NE), and Aspirational Districts and Blocks—where 15% of India's population resides—the Frontier Program will develop tailored templates. In order to develop templates, 2500 new ATLs will be made.

A system for developing professionals (managers, educators, and trainers) to establish, run, and preserve India's innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem is being developed under the Human Capital Development Program. 5500 of these professionals will be produced by the pilot.

The Deeptech Reactor will provide a research sandbox to test strategies for bringing research-based deep tech firms to market, which will take a lot more time and money. There will be at least one Deeptech reactor piloted.

By concentrating on their areas of strength, the State Innovation Mission (SIM) helps states and UTs develop a robust ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship. The State Support Mission of NITI Aayog will include SIM.

India's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem will expand globally through the International Innovation Collaborations program. The United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has identified four areas of intervention: (a) an annual global Tinkering Olympiad; (b) the establishment of ten bilateral and multilateral engagements with advanced nations; (c) serving as a knowledge partner and assisting the WIPO in disseminating AIM's models and programs (ATL, AIC) to the global south; and (d) serving as the anchor for India's Startup20 Engagement Group of the G20.