Delhi Govt Holds Roundtable With Startup Leaders To Strengthen Policy

The Delhi government on Sunday held a roundtable with leading startup founders, investors and industry representatives to seek suggestions on the implementation of its Startup and Incubation Policy, 2026, which aims to support more than 10,000 startups and generate over four lakh jobs.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who attended the meeting, said Delhi has the talent, educational institutions, technology capabilities and large consumer market needed to emerge as a major startup and innovation hub.

The roundtable was organised by the Department of Training and Technical Education in collaboration with Youth for Governance at The Lalit in New Delhi.

The discussions focused on the key provisions, implementation framework and proposed financial support of over ₹400 crore under the policy, besides measures to create a more supportive environment for startups, according to a statement.

"Delhi has talented youth, strong educational institutions, technological capabilities, a large market and the presence of leading industries, making it a natural hub for startups and innovation," Gupta said.

She said the government's objective was to ensure that young people get support for their ideas and innovations, while startups are able to create employment and contribute to economic growth.

Under the policy, the government plans to establish incubation centres in Delhi University colleges and schools, she said.

Gupta said the government would work with startup founders, investors, industry representatives, educational institutions and young people to make the implementation of the policy more participatory and outcome-oriented.

The chief minister said Delhi's startup ecosystem should go beyond creating businesses and become a foundation for innovation, investment, employment generation and economic growth.

Education Minister Ashish Sood, who chaired the meeting, said the government aimed to support and encourage more than 10,000 startups during its tenure and create employment opportunities for over four lakh youth through them.

"Many of these entrepreneurs started their ventures in Delhi and successfully scaled them to a much larger level," Sood said, adding that their experience and suggestions would help the government ensure effective implementation of the policy.

The meeting was attended by prominent entrepreneurs and investors, including Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Snapdeal co-founder and Titan Capital founder Kunal Bahl, Swiggy CEO Rohit Kapoor, Urban Company co-founder Abhiraj Singh Bhal, CARS24 founder Vikram Chopra and CashKaro co-founder Swati Bhargava, it stated.

Representatives from companies and startups including Innov8, Veeba, InsuranceDekho, Zypp Electric, Statiq, AstroTalk, Newton School of Technology and Ecosoul also participated in the discussions, the statement read.

Industry representatives suggested positioning Delhi as the country's "deregulation capital", citing its metro connectivity, proximity to the central government, research institutions and large consumer market as key advantages, it said.

They recommended measures to improve access to land and workspaces for startups and rationalise floor area ratio (FAR) and circle rates to create a more conducive business environment.

Participants also suggested structuring the proposed ₹407.5 crore fund as a Fund of Funds to attract private capital and leverage government investment to bring in greater private investment into the startup ecosystem.

The industry also proposed that the government become a major early customer for startups and develop public artificial intelligence infrastructure and data sandboxes to support deep-tech and government technology companies.

Priority was suggested for sectors such as artificial intelligence, fintech, agritech, defence and aerospace, deep tech, GovTech, legal tech, edtech and medtech, it said.

Participants also called for dedicated support and funding for women founders, stronger links between industrial training institutes and industry, mentorship networks involving alumni and IITs, greater academic flexibility for students pursuing entrepreneurship and regular pitch programmes.

A permanent regulatory helpdesk comprising domain experts was also suggested to help startups resolve regulatory issues quickly.

The chief minister said the suggestions made by industry stakeholders would be considered as important inputs in implementing the policy and reiterated the government's commitment to making Delhi a major startup and innovation hub.