Focus on 100 student startups for campus to market initiative

New Delhi: Building on the momentum of the Campus to Market initiative, efforts are now focused on deepening collaboration between emerging innovators and key policy stakeholders. An open dialogue is being on organised on the Delhi Startup Policy, 2025, to set the framework for seed grant disbursement and a roadmap to position Delhi as the student innovation capital of India.The Delhi Startup Yuva Festival, 2026, organised by govt's department of training and technical education, brought together the top 100 selected student startups at Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women at Kashmere Gate, offering participants an opportunity to present ideas, share experiences and engage with policymakers. During the session, the startups presented their ideas and projects.Addressing the gathering, Delhi education minister Ashish Sood had words of appreciation for the innovations, creativity and technical excellence demonstrated by the young entrepreneurs. "Delhi govt's vision goes beyond awarding degrees, focusing instead on creating meaningful opportunities and platforms that enable students to transform ideas into real-world ventures," he said.As an example, he spoke about how a drone developed by a student was modified to be used for fogging operations. In the future, such drones could be made available to RWAs for surveillance and security, he said.He emphasised that promoting a strong startup culture is the need of the hour and that the youth of Delhi possess immense potential which, with the right guidance and resources, can achieve global recognition.Sood said govt will introduce a comprehensive Startup Incubation Policy. Under this policy, Rs 325 crore will be allocated over five years to provide end-to-end support to 5,000 startups from campuses to markets. Sood said govt's objective is not to stop at the idea stage but to provide structured institutional support to the market stage. Nearly 1,000 startups participated in the festival, of which 700 made presentations and 100 were shortlisted. Govt provided assistance of Rs 20,000 per team to 5,000 teams. About Rs 10 crore was allocated this year.