Every figure below was read off nidhi-prayas.org, the scheme's own site, on 22 August 2026. Not from a press release, and not from an aggregator. Scheme terms change, so check the portal again before you plan around any of it.
What NIDHI PRAYAS 2.0 publishes today
Run by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
| What | Published figure |
|---|---|
| Prototyping grant at a PRAYAS Centre (PC) | Up to Rs 20 lakh |
| Prototyping grant at an Advance PRAYAS Centre (APC) | Up to Rs 40 lakh |
| Applicant age and citizenship | At least 18, Indian citizen, proof required |
| Who can apply | Individual innovators with or without a registered startup, and startups incorporated no more than 5 years |
| Indian shareholding | At least 51 percent of equity held by Indian citizens |
| Turnover ceiling | Not more than Rs 1 crore a year |
| Prior government grants | Cumulative grant funding above Rs 40 lakh makes you ineligible |
Almost every page about this scheme quotes the wrong number
Search for NIDHI PRAYAS and you will be told, repeatedly, that it is a grant of up to Rs 10 lakh. The programme portal says up to Rs 20 lakh at a PRAYAS Centre and up to Rs 40 lakh at an Advance PRAYAS Centre. The lower figure appears to be carried over from the earlier version of the scheme and has been copied between articles ever since. If you have been sizing your prototype budget against Rs 10 lakh, you may have been planning against a quarter of what is available.
Also worth knowing
There is no single application portal. You apply to a PRAYAS Centre or an Advance PRAYAS Centre directly, which means the centre you choose sets your ceiling: a standard centre caps you at Rs 20 lakh whatever your prototype needs. Pick the centre before you write the application, not after. Note too that the Rs 40 lakh cumulative cap counts every government grant you have already taken, so past success can rule you out.
Before you apply
Open nidhi-prayas.org and confirm the numbers above still stand. Portals update quietly and news stories do not. If they have changed, the portal is right and this page is out of date, and we would rather you found that out here than in a rejection.
To see which schemes fit your startup rather than reading them one at a time, run your profile through the grant catalog.
Source
Department of Science and Technology, Government of India: https://nidhi-prayas.org/innovators/. Checked 22 August 2026.
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