Govt to allocate Startup FoFs to deep-tech startups: Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal says the entire Rs 10,000-crore Startup Fund of Funds will go to deep-tech ventures to help Indian founders retain ownership and reduce early foreign equity sales

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said the government plans to allocate the entire corpus of the next edition of the Startup Fund of Funds scheme — Rs 10,000 crore — exclusively for deep-tech startups. The move aims to ensure that Indian entrepreneurs retain substantial ownership and avoid selling large equity stakes to foreign investors at early stages.

 

Funding plan to help Indian founders retain ownership 

“On the government’s part, we are hoping to dedicate the Startup Fund of Funds almost entirely for deep-tech investments, particularly early-stage investments before the product matures.

 

“This is so that our friends from the ecosystem don’t end up selling a large part of their equity at a very early stage to venture capitalists or foreign funds and are able to maintain, or at least retain, a large part of their ownership for future rounds and the maturity of their technologies going forward,” Goyal said while delivering the keynote address at TiEcon Delhi-NCR 2025.

   

Focus on indigenous innovation and resilient supply chains 

Goyal noted that for India’s long-term growth and sovereignty, the country must develop indigenous technologies, build resilient supply chains, and maintain control over essential supplies in critical areas to reduce over-dependence on certain geographies.

 

Underlining India’s progress, he said the country is transitioning from being a back office for the world to becoming a leader in innovation and technology.

 

“India, as a nation, has resolved to move away from just being the back office of the world or the software provider of the world to becoming a global engine of innovation,” he said.

 

India’s strong STEM base driving innovation 

Highlighting India’s talent pool, Goyal said that the 15 lakh engineers graduating every year and 24 lakh overall STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) graduates constitute the highest number among any country globally.

 

Earlier remarks sparked action in the deep-tech ecosystem 

Referring to his earlier comments made in February this year on the priorities of the startup ecosystem, Goyal said that although his statements had drawn criticism from industry stakeholders, they acted as a wake-up call for India’s deep-tech community.

 

“For a few hours, it seemed as if there was a flurry of action and attack on me. I realised finally that it had actually created a wake-up call for all of us to recognise the importance of this subject and do something about it,” Goyal said.

 

Earlier this year, while addressing the second Startup Mahakumbh event, the minister had compared the focus of Indian startups with those in China, urging greater emphasis on deep-tech innovation.