Promoting Innovations in Individuals, Start-ups and MSMEs
Grant-in-aid for individual innovators, startups and MSMEs to build prototypes and move towards patenting and commercialisation.
What you get
Phase I: up to ₹2 lakh or ₹20 lakh by category · Phase II: up to ₹50 lakh
Nodal ministry
Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR)
Support type
Grant
Best suited for
Ideation · Prototype / PoC
Typical timeline
Proposals evaluated by the PRISM Advisory and Screening Committee
What this scheme actually is
PRISM is the scheme for the individual innovator — the person with a working idea and no company. DSIR runs it through TOCICs hosted at universities and national labs, with a central screening committee in Delhi. Phase I funds prototype development at two ceilings; Phase II funds scale-up and commercialisation at up to ₹50 lakh for half the project cost.
Implementing agency: TePP Outreach cum Cluster Innovation Centres (TOCICs)
What the scheme sets out to do
Who can apply
What you get
How to apply, step by step
- 1
Find your nearest TOCIC
TOCICs are hosted at universities and national labs and act as the intake point. Their technical staff also help shape the proposal before it goes to the screening committee.
- 2
Choose the right phase and category
Phase I Category I for a small proof of concept, Category II for a substantive prototype, Phase II for scale-up. Applying at the wrong ceiling wastes a cycle.
- 3
Write the technical proposal
Problem, technical approach, novelty relative to existing solutions, prototype plan, costed budget and the commercialisation path. Cost sharing applies — 10% in Phase I, 50% in Phase II.
- 4
Submit via DSIR and face the PASC
The PRISM Advisory and Screening Committee evaluates proposals. Be ready to defend novelty and to show you can fund your share.
- 5
Execute and report
Funds release against the sanctioned budget with 10% of grants released to the monitoring agency for project oversight.
What we actually do on a PRISM mandate
Services this usually needs
No consultant can guarantee a sanction — that decision sits with the evaluating committee, bank or incubator. We commit to an honest eligibility view, an application built to the evaluator’s format, filing inside the window and a documented follow-up cadence. That is stated in every engagement letter we sign.