AIM SUMVAAD 2026 Brings Together India’s Incubation Ecosystem to Accelerate Innovation-Led Growth

The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), under NITI Aayog, Government of India, today organised AIM SUMVAAD, its flagship annual incubator conclave, at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi. The conclave brought together representatives from more than 100 Atal Incubation Centres (AICs) and Atal Community Innovation Centres (ACICs), alongside senior policymakers, industry leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, CSR heads, mentors and key ecosystem stakeholders from across the country.

AIM SUMVAAD served as a high-level platform to align policy intent, institutional capacity and ecosystem partnerships, reinforcing the role of incubators as strategic enablers of India's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

High-Level Participation and Key Launches

The conclave was inaugurated by Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India; Shri Suman Bery, Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog; Shri B. V. R. Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog; Dr. Rajesh S. Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology; Ms Angela Lusigi, Resident Representative, UNDP India; and Shri Deepak Bagla, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission.

The occasion marked several major milestones, including the celebration of over 100 AIM-supported incubators, the launch of the Youth Co:Lab National Innovation Challenge 2026, the announcement of the National Incubator Assessment Framework Indicators, and the National Incubation Awards, recognising excellence and impact across India's incubation ecosystem.

National Incubator Assessment Framework Announced

Hon'ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, announced the indicators for the National Incubator Assessment Framework, a joint initiative of AIM, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). He noted that the framework would undergo national consultations for further refinement and finalisation.

Highlighting AIM's transformative role, the Minister said the Mission has played a critical part in building India's innovation ecosystem, with nearly 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) ensuring that innovation reaches almost every district of the country.

"What began with just 350 startups has today expanded into a vibrant ecosystem of over 2 lakh startups, generating more than 21,000 jobs, and driving a fundamental shift in the national mindset where livelihoods are no longer limited to government employment but increasingly driven by innovation and entrepreneurship," he said.

Referring to the Union Budget 2026–27, Dr Singh underlined its strong alignment with the national innovation agenda, particularly in areas such as bio-manufacturing, biotechnology, bio-refinery and bio-pharma. He also highlighted India's growing global standing in bio-capacity, noting that the country is ranked among leading nations in the Indo-Pacific and globally, reflecting the vast potential of its human and natural resources, including the Himalayas, oceans and emerging deep-sea opportunities.

On the National Incubator Assessment Framework, the Minister said it would evolve into a centralised digital national repository, enabling transparency, benchmarking and peer learning across the incubation ecosystem. He added that the framework would foster healthy competition, strengthen institutional confidence and support more effective assessment and scaling of innovation across public, private and non-government sectors.

Innovation, Productivity and Viksit Bharat 2047

Reinforcing the link between innovation and India's long-term development vision, Shri Suman Bery, Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog, stated that productivity-led growth supported by startups is essential for achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047.

"India can and needs to grow faster to attain Viksit Bharat 2047. It is only by increasing productivity, supported by startup-led innovation, that we can achieve this collective goal," he said.

Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, highlighted the strategic importance of incubators and deep-tech in India's growth trajectory. Emphasising the evolving role of incubators as critical national infrastructure, he said, "If India has to become a developed nation, we should have 30 percent deep-tech startups. In this journey, AIM is an important forum on a mission for innovation."

AIM's Role Across the Innovation Lifecycle

Speaking at the conclave, Shri B. V. R. Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog, described AIM as a cornerstone of India's innovation journey.

"AIM, in my opinion, is anything that promotes innovation — without which the transition of India will not happen," he said. "The beauty lies in the fact that it spans across all layers: schools have ATLs, colleges have AICs, communities have ACICs, and at the global stage there is an international network. AIM itself is an incubator of new ideas of propagating innovation. With 10 percent of India's incubators under the aegis of AIM, we are striving to move markets."

From Innovation to Scale

The conclave underscored the evolving role of incubators as strategic institutions supporting startup scale-up, technology commercialisation and entrepreneurship across sectors. The Trailblazer session featured Shri Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, who spoke on artificial intelligence as a driver of India's future.

Startup and investor perspectives were shared by Shri Manoj Meena, Founder and CEO, Atomberg; Dr. Renuka Diwan, Founder, BioPrime; and Shri Vishesh Rajaram, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Speciale Invest. Their discussions highlighted pathways from innovation to scale, the importance of deep-tech, and the role of patient capital in building globally competitive enterprises.

Strengthening Collaboration and Inclusive Innovation

AIM SUMVAAD further strengthened collaboration between government, industry, CSR institutions and the startup ecosystem through focused discussions on incubators' roles as Technology Transfer Organisations. These sessions examined how incubators can bridge research institutions to revenue generation through commercialisation, intellectual property management and startup scaling.

Other discussions explored how language diversity and cultural contexts shape innovation ecosystems, strategies for nurturing startups in the era of artificial intelligence, talent development, ethical AI integration and venture capital decision-making. Speakers emphasised the importance of long-term capital, inclusive talent nurturing and original innovation to position India as a global innovation leader.

The event featured eminent speakers and panelists including Dr. Chintan Vaishnav (MIT), Dr. Balasubramaniam (Capacity Building Commission), Huda Jaffer (SELCO Foundation), Jiren Topno (Tata Steel Foundation), Shraddha Sharma (YourStory), Manish Diwan (BIRAC), Praveen Roy (DST), Dr. Shivkumar Kalyanaraman (ANRF), Dr. Chhaya Chauhan (ANRF), Nikhil Agarwal (FITT, IIT Delhi), Sourav Roy, CEO, Tata Steel Foundation, Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala (IIT Madras), Sravanth Aluru (Avataar.ai), Ashish Dhawan, Founder and CEO, The Convergence Foundation, and Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder, Info Edge.

Building a Future-Ready Incubation Ecosystem

Summing up the conclave's objectives, Dr Deepak Bagla, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission, said, "AIM SUMVAAD serves as a collective platform to align policy intent, institutional capacity, and ecosystem partnerships towards building a high-quality, outcomes-driven incubation ecosystem for India, and to create and deepen the entire innovation ecosystem in furtherance of the Hon'ble Prime Minister's vision of Viksit Bharat."

Ms Angela Lusigi, Resident Representative, UNDP India, echoed the importance of collaboration, stating, "AIM SUMVAAD underscores the importance of collaborative platforms in strengthening inclusive and sustainable innovation ecosystems by bringing together policymakers, institutions, and entrepreneurs to shape solutions with long-term impact."

With over 5,000 startups incubated and more than 50,000 jobs created, AIM-supported incubators have emerged as a cornerstone of India's innovation economy. AIM SUMVAAD reaffirmed AIM's role as the umbrella institution shaping a future-ready incubation ecosystem and accelerating India's journey towards Viksit Bharat @2047 through innovation, entrepreneurship and strategic collaboration.