Collaborative Innovation: The power of public-private partnerships in building India’s DeepTech ecosystem

By Sudhanshu Mittal, Head & Director, Technical Solutions, Meity Nasscom CoE

The deep-tech ecosystem in India has been expanding rapidly over the past 20 years, thereby positioning itself as key component of innovation led growth. The country now hosts more than 3,000 DeepTech startups across domains such as agriculture, manufacturing, healthtech, space tech, semiconductors, AI, quantum technologies, biotech, and defence. Many of these startups are developing globally competitive IP instead of being service focused. Government has created multiple programs like iDEX, TDF, the National Quantum Mission, India Semiconductor Mission etc, which are creating strong demand and infrastructure for frontier innovation.

Academic community, especially IITs, IISc, and specialised research labs—have emerged as powerful startup creators, having produced hundreds of DeepTech ventures. Corporate R&D centres, global capability centres, and incubators have further integrated industry into the innovation network. Together, these shifts have transformed India from a consumer ...