In a grand culmination of the Startup Mahakumbh 2025 held in New Delhi, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal conferred the ‘Startup Maharathi’ Awards, celebrating the spirit, innovation, and determination of India’s entrepreneurial community. Addressing a charged gathering of over 2,400 participants and 3,000 exhibitors, the Minister hailed every startup founder present as a “Maharathi”—a valiant warrior steering the nation’s innovation revolution.
Shri Goyal emphasized the growing momentum of India’s startup movement and urged entrepreneurs to set bold goals, transcending the limitations of the present. He remarked that the aspirations ignited at Startup Mahakumbh should stretch beyond today’s reality, especially as India strides confidently into its Amrit Kaal. The Minister noted the scale and impact of this year’s event, which saw an unprecedented footfall of 2.3 lakh visitors—significantly higher than the 3,000 visitors recorded last year—underscoring India’s accelerating trajectory in the innovation ecosystem.
Highlighting the inclusivity of the startup wave, Shri Goyal pointed out that 40 percent of the applicants for the Maharathi Grand Challenge hailed from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, with a significant number of women-led ventures. He praised the growing leadership of women in India’s development story, calling their enthusiasm a driving force for progress.
The Minister reiterated the Government’s commitment to empowering startups through reforms and infrastructure. Over 40,000 compliances have been simplified or removed, and several outdated laws decriminalized to make entrepreneurship in India smoother and more transparent. Taking a step further, he announced the establishment of a dedicated Startup India Desk within the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. This desk will serve as a national helpline for startups, accessible via a simple 4-digit toll-free number, available in regional languages to ensure inclusive access.
A major highlight of the day was the announcement of the Second Fund of Funds for Startups, with a sanctioned corpus of ₹10,000 crore. Approved by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, this fund aims to provide seed-stage support and bolster deep-tech innovation across sectors. Of the total fund, ₹2,000 crore will be disbursed this year to SIDBI as the initial installment. The fund is designed to help startups in critical domains like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, machine learning, precision manufacturing, and biotechnology—fields that typically face challenges due to long development cycles and high capital demands.
Shri Goyal explained that the initiative is intended to provide patient capital to early-stage startups, allowing them to focus on research, prototype development, and go-to-market strategies. By doing so, the government aims to establish India as a global hub for indigenous technology development and solutions tailored to national priorities.
Further extending the support system, the Minister called upon SIDBI to set up at least one startup support centre in every state, equipped with shared infrastructure for prototyping and product development. Citing the example of a startup that had to purchase its own 3D printer due to lack of access to shared facilities, Shri Goyal stressed the need to democratize access to tools and infrastructure.
He concluded with a powerful message, urging young Indians to lead in emerging areas such as semiconductors, deep-tech, and AI. He stated that India’s true potential would be realized not through regulation but through facilitation, adding that the government’s role is to support, not control. As the Startup Mahakumbh 2025 came to a close, Shri Goyal’s words echoed a call to action for a new generation of entrepreneurs to shape a self-reliant and globally competitive India.