In a major push to strengthen India’s manufacturing startup ecosystem, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has partnered with over 50 leading companies, including ITC, Flipkart, Mercedes-Benz, boAt, Hero Moto, Zepto, Paytm, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Ather Energy.
The aim is clear to build an ecosystem where startups can turn ideas into physical products, faster and more efficiently. Through these collaborations, DPIIT is encouraging large corporates to set up manufacturing-focused incubators, offering young ventures access to pilot plants, scaling support, and ready-to-use production spaces.
This move comes at a crucial time. India’s startup ecosystem has thrived in digital innovation, but hardware and product startups still struggle with high setup costs, long production cycles, and lack of infrastructure.
By creating corporate-backed incubators, the government is helping bridge this structural gap, turning manufacturing from a bottleneck into a launchpad.
More importantly, this signals a broader shift in India’s innovation model from software-led growth to product-led value creation.
DPIIT’s initiative could well mark the beginning of India’s manufacturing decade, where startups don’t just build for digital users they build for the real world.
Also Read: How Easy Credit Is Changing India’s Financial Discipline?
