Delhi, the National Capital, has incubated 566 startups under the Atal Innovation Mission.
According to information provided in the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing session of Parliament, Delhi has emerged as a startup hub, with 566 startups having been incubated across eight Atal Incubation Centers (AICs) within the national capital.
Responding to a query in the Upper House, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Rao Inderjit Singh stated that incubation support is an integral part of the government’s Atal Innovation Mission, which aims to foster a robust innovation and startup ecosystem across the country.
According to data presented in Parliament, a total of 6,782 startups have been incubated across the nation within 83 Atal Incubation Centers (AICs) and 20 Atal Community Innovation Centers (ACICs). Of these, more than 2,000 startups are women-led and socially inclusive, underscoring the Mission’s focus on inclusive entrepreneurship.
With 566 incubated startups, Delhi ranks sixth among all states and Union Territories under this program. The highest number of startups—945—have been incubated in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Tamil Nadu with 694, Telangana with 658, Maharashtra with 625, and Karnataka with 605 startups.
Despite being a geographically small Union Territory, Delhi accounts for approximately 8.3 percent of the total startups incubated at the national level, a testament to its robust institutional and academic ecosystem. Delhi’s incubation network is driven by a blend of universities, private organizations, and social innovation platforms. The key institutions operating these centers include Jawaharlal Nehru University, Ambedkar University Delhi, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, and Netaji Subhas University of Technology. Other incubation centers are operated by organizations such as 91Springboard Solutions Private Limited, Sangam Innovation Foundation, EMPI Incubation, and the Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship, which provide mentorship, infrastructure, and support to early-stage startups.
The government also informed Parliament that there is a proposal to open two additional incubation centers in Delhi. One of these will be established by the AssisTech Foundation, which will focus on assistive technology innovations for persons with disabilities. The second, proposed by the Indigram Labs Foundation, will support grassroots and community-based innovations. In total, the Atal Innovation Mission has established 103 incubation centers across 28 states and Union Territories, and the establishment of 48 additional AICs and ACICs is still pending, signaling a further expansion of this program in the coming years.
