In a bold move to position itself alongside the United States and China, the Indian government has announced a $25 billion deep-tech financing program. The initiative is designed to nurture home-grown companies developing artificial intelligence advanced semiconductors autonomous drones and space technologies, thereby lessening the country’s dependence on imported frontier solutions.
The financial backbone of the plan consists of an $11 billion allocation from the Research Development Infrastructure Fund which will be matched by venture-capital and private-equity firms. Industry insiders expect an additional $3–4 billion from domestic funds, bringing the total pool to the announced $25 billion. This structure mirrors a public-private partnership model, aiming to combine the stability of state funding with the agility of market-driven investors.
Target sectors and recent unicorns
While the fund covers a broad spectrum of deep-tech fields, the primary focus areas are artificial intelligencesemiconductor manufacturing advanced drone systems and space-tech. In 2025, several home-grown startups crossed the $1 billion valuation threshold, signaling the sector’s rapid maturation. Companies such as Emergent (coding-platform), Skyroot (space launch services) and Sarvam (government-grade AI) each secured unicorn-level financing, underscoring the growing pool of viable, high-impact ventures.
Geopolitical forces shaping the fund
The timing of the announcement reflects mounting strategic pressure. With the United States tightening export controls and China facing heightened scrutiny, Indian policymakers view indigenous deep-tech capacity as a national security imperative. Recent U.S. restrictions that forced AI firms like Anthropic to block certain models for foreign users have reinforced the urgency of building domestic alternatives. As a result, many investors describe the Indian ecosystem as a “candy store,” eager to capture opportunities before global supply chains become more fragmented.
Capital landscape and scaling challenges
Despite the influx of early-stage capital, Indian deep-tech firms still grapple with a shortage of large-ticket investors. Only about 2 % of local financiers are comfortable writing checks over $10 million, a stark contrast to the United States, where deep-tech startups raised roughly $136 billion in the same period. To bridge this gap, high-net-worth individuals and family offices must expand their risk tolerance and allocate more substantial sums to long-horizon projects. Venture-capital groups are already committing a larger share of their portfolios; a recent IVCA survey showed nine out of ten funds actively deploying capital to deep-tech ventures.
By mid-2026, India had already attracted $11.4 billion across 957 deep-tech deals since 2015, with the annual flow jumping from $91 million in 2015 to nearly $3 billion in 2025. Bengaluru alone accounted for half of the recorded deals, while Mumbai, Gurugram, Hyderabad and Pune emerged as secondary hubs. The new $25 billion pool is expected to amplify this momentum, providing the massive checks needed to transform promising prototypes into global market leaders.
