Gujarat Launches SSIP 2.0 with Rs. 500 Crore Corpus to Power Student Innovation and Start-up Ecosystem
The Government of Gujarat has rolled out the Student Start-up and Innovation Policy (SSIP 2.0), strengthening the State's innovation infrastructure at a time when young founders from Gujarat are already entering advanced, technology-intensive sectors. The policy period runs from January 11, 2022 to March 31, 2027.
SSIP 2.0 provisions for the creation of a Student Innovation Fund (SIF) and Grantee Matching Fund (GMF) totalling Rs. 500 Crore for the policy period. Rs. 300 Crore (SIF) shall be provisioned through the state budget, while the remaining Rs. 200 Crore (GMF) shall be mobilized via internal budgets of universities and institutes, private and CSR funds, and others. A yearly outlay of Rs. 60 Crore would be received by the Gujarat Knowledge Society (GKS) under the Directorate of Technical Education, and disbursed amongst Grantees, Programme Management Units (PMUs) and beneficiaries as per the provisions of the policy.
What is the financial structure?
Total Corpus: Rs. 500 Crore (SIF + GMF)
Student Innovation Fund (SIF): Rs. 300 Crore (state budget)
Grantee Matching Fund (GMF): Rs. 200 Crore (university budgets, private, CSR funds)
Annual Outlay: Rs. 60 Crore per year via GKS
SIF Distribution Verticals: Grants to Grantees | PMU Operating Expenditure | State Level Programmes | Start-up Srujan Seed Support (up to INR 10 lakh per start-up) | Open Innovation Programmes | Incubation, Acceleration & Flagship Initiatives
What does this policy aim to achieve?
Outreach and sensitization of 5 million students across 1,000 HEIs and 10,000 schools.
Support for 10,000 student-led Proof-of-Concepts.
Assistance for 5,000 IP filings.
Capacity building at 500 educational institutions with pre-incubation support.
Nurturing of 1,000 school student-led innovations.
Grooming of 1,500 student start-ups.
Incubation of 500 start-ups (physical and virtual).
Seed support to 500 start-ups under Start-up Srujan (up to INR 10 lakh each).
Eligibility under SSIP 2.0 extends to universities, institutes and schools based in Gujarat — both public and private — provided they have demonstrated concrete efforts in innovation and entrepreneurship or show strong commitment to the policy's goals. Individual beneficiaries include any person up to the age of 35, encompassing school students up to Class 12, diploma, vocational, undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students or alumni, and even dropouts, whose innovation contributes towards development or improvement of a product, process or service, or represents a scalable business model with employment or wealth creation potential.
Success story of Student Entrepreneurship
Eighteen-year-old entrepreneur Rehan Mansuri from Ahmedabad has founded Micronex Technology Private Limited, entering the semiconductor manufacturing space. The start-up is setting up a Rs. 80 Crore lead-frame manufacturing facility in Sanand to supply chip-packaging components under the India Semiconductor Mission, with production expected to commence by May 2027. Mansuri's story comes alongside other examples of young entrepreneurs taking on complex technology projects — a trend that reflects the core mission of SSIP 2.0: facilitating the journey from mind-to-market across academia.
Policy Quick Reference:
Policy: SSIP 2.0 (Student Start-up and Innovation Policy)
State: Gujarat
Period: January 11, 2022 – March 31, 2027
Fund: Rs. 500 Crore (SIF + GMF)
Implementing Body: Gujarat Knowledge Society (GKS), under Directorate of Technical Education
Seed Support: Up to INR 10 lakh per start-up under Start-up Srujan
Sources: Student Startup and Innovation policy for the State of Gujarat