Centre unveils Rs 2.3 crore startup challenge to boost renewable energy innovation

IANS June 21, 2025 351 views

The Indian government has launched a Rs 2.3 crore startup challenge to accelerate rooftop solar and renewable energy innovations. Winners will receive funding, mentorship, and incubation support from MNRE and NISE. The competition targets affordability, resilience, inclusivity, and sustainability in solar adoption. Applications close on August 20, with results announced on September 10.

"The challenge aims to identify breakthrough solutions for India’s rooftop solar and distributed energy ecosystem." – MNRE Statement
New Delhi, June 21: The government on Saturday launched an innovative ‘Start-Up Challenge’ with a total prize pool of Rs 2.3 crore to accelerate rooftop solar and distributed renewable energy innovations in the country.

Key Points

1

Rs 1 crore top prize for solar startups

2

Focus on affordability, resilience, and inclusivity

3

Winners get incubation and mentorship

4

Applications open till August 20

The selected innovators will compete for Rs 2.3 crore, including Rs 1 crore for first prize, Rs 50 lakh for second prize, Rs 30 lakh for third prize, and 10 consolation prizes of Rs 5 lakh each.

Last sate for application is August 20 and the result will be announced on September 10.

Winners will also gain incubation support, pilot implementation opportunities, and mentorship from domain experts and investors, facilitated by MNRE and NISE, according to a Ministry of New and Renewable Energy statement.

The unique national innovation challenge aims to identify and support breakthrough solutions for India's rooftop solar and distributed energy ecosystem.

It is being implemented under the aegis of MNRE with support from the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), and in coordination with StartUp India, DPIIT.

The Start-Up Challenge seeks applications from innovators and startups in India, focusing on four key categories to boost renewable energy adoption.

These are affordability – making rooftop solar affordable for low- and middle-income households using innovative financing, modular systems, and circular economy strategies.

Resilience is another category, to enhance climate resilience, grid stability, and cybersecurity in solar infrastructure, especially for vulnerable and remote areas.

Inclusivity – expanding access to underserved communities through community solar, virtual net metering, and inclusive financing models, and 'environmental sustainability' – promoting eco-friendly technologies such as solar panel recycling, land-neutral solar deployment, and hybrid clean energy models, are the last two categories.

The challenge welcomes a wide range of startups in green tech, IoT, AI, blockchain, construction, energy hardware, fintech, and waste management.

Reader Comments

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Rahul K.
This is a fantastic initiative by the government! 🇮🇳 India has so much untapped potential in renewable energy, especially solar. With our tropical climate, we should be leading the world in solar innovation. Hope to see some game-changing solutions emerge from this challenge!
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Priya M.
While the prize money is attractive, I hope the government also ensures proper implementation support for winners. Many such initiatives fail to translate into real-world impact. The mentorship component looks promising though!
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Arjun S.
As someone working in cleantech, this is exactly the push we needed. The focus on affordability for middle-class households is crucial - solar needs to move beyond just industrial applications. Jai Hind! 🙌
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Neha T.
Good initiative but why only 2.3 crore? For a country of our size and with our energy needs, the budget should be at least 10 times higher. Hope this is just the beginning of bigger investments in renewable energy startups.
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Vikram J.
The inclusion of blockchain and AI categories is forward-thinking! India's tech talent combined with renewable energy focus can create some amazing solutions. Maybe we'll see the next big unicorn emerge from this challenge 💡
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Sunita P.
Finally some focus on solar panel recycling! We can't just keep installing new panels without solving the waste problem. Hope the environmental sustainability category gets good participation. Our future depends on such innovations.

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Tags:
renewable energy solar startups MNRE NISE rooftop solar green tech innovation challenge