India is preparing to put as much as $25 billion behind Deep Tech start-ups, signaling an ambitious attempt to build homegrown capabilities in some of the world’s most strategically important technologies.
The push comes as governments increasingly view artificial intelligence, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, drones and space technology as more than commercial opportunities. They are becoming critical to economic competitiveness and national security.
For India, the goal is clear: reduce dependence on foreign technology while giving domestic start-ups the capital they need to compete in a rapidly changing global technology landscape.
But turning billions of dollars of planned investment into globally competitive companies will not be easy. India’s Deep Tech ecosystem is still relatively young, and many of these businesses require years of research, large amounts of capital and patient investors before they can reach commercial scale.
India Plans a $25 Billion Deep Tech Funding Push
Rajat Tandon, president of the Indian Venture and Alternative Capital Association, told CNBC that India invested approximately $11.6 billion in Deep Tech during the past decade.
The government is now looking to significantly increase that commitment.
According to Tandon, the Indian government has committed $11 billion through the Research Development Infrastructure Fund, with venture capital and private equity fund managers expected to match the investment.
An additional $3 billion to $4 billion could also be added to the pool.
Together, those commitments could bring the total amount available for Deep Tech investment to roughly $25 billion.
The scale of the proposed funding marks a significant change in India’s approach to frontier technology. Rather than relying primarily on foreign companies and imported technology, policymakers are increasingly looking to create an ecosystem capable of producing globally competitive technology from within the country.
Why Deep Tech Has Become a Strategic Priority
Deep Tech covers a broad range of technologies, but the companies operating in this space share one important characteristic: their products are generally built around significant scientific or engineering innovation.
Artificial intelligence and semiconductors are among the most prominent areas, while advanced manufacturing, drones and space technology are also part of the sector.
The Indian government’s growing focus on these industries comes against a backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions and an intensifying technology rivalry between major economies.
The United States and China currently dominate much of the global artificial intelligence race. At the same time, restrictions on technology exports and concerns surrounding Chinese technology have highlighted the risks countries face when they depend too heavily on foreign suppliers.
For India, that has created an additional incentive to develop domestic capabilities.
Anandamoy Roychowdhury, managing director of Crane Venture Partners, said U.S. tariffs could actually benefit India’s Deep Tech sector by encouraging more local development.
His broader argument is that companies and governments cannot assume access to critical technologies will always remain available.
That concern became particularly visible earlier in June, when Anthropic disabled access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models for foreign nationals in compliance with a U.S. government export-control directive.
For investors and policymakers, developments such as these reinforce the argument for technological self-reliance.
India’s Deep Tech Ecosystem Is Starting to Mature
Despite the enthusiasm surrounding the sector, India’s Deep Tech industry remains in its early stages.
Fund managers attending SuperReturn Asia described the market as nascent, but they also pointed to the country’s strong pool of talent and the quality of ideas emerging from Indian start-ups.
The shift from experimentation toward commercial products is particularly important.
Shweta Rajpal Kohli, president and chief executive of Startup Policy Forum, said there has been a “dramatic acceleration of innovation” in India’s Deep Tech sector. Some companies, she noted, are now moving beyond prototypes and into genuine commercialization.
That transition could ultimately determine whether India’s Deep Tech ambitions succeed.
Producing promising research or an impressive prototype is one thing. Building a company capable of selling technology at scale, competing internationally and generating sustainable returns is considerably more difficult.
There are already signs that some Indian start-ups are making that transition.
Indian Deep Tech Start-Ups Are Already Reaching Unicorn Status
Several Indian technology companies have recently demonstrated the potential of the country’s Deep Tech ecosystem.
Earlier this year, Vibe-coding start-up Emergent, space technology company Skyroot and full-stack sovereign AI company Sarvam became unicorns after their valuations exceeded $1 billion during fundraising rounds.
Their emergence illustrates the range of opportunities attracting investors, from artificial intelligence and software development to space technology.
For international investors, India’s combination of technical talent, entrepreneurial activity and a large domestic market is increasingly difficult to overlook.
Roychowdhury compared the investment opportunity to “a kid in a candy store.”
His own fund provides an indication of just how significant India has become within the regional investment landscape. Approximately 80% of his $150 million Asia-Pacific fund is currently concentrated in India.
That level of exposure suggests that some investors are already positioning themselves for a much larger Deep Tech opportunity.
Deep Tech Funding Reached a Record in 2025
Investor interest is also reflected in funding data.
An IVCA report published in August found that nine out of 10 funds surveyed were deploying capital into Deep Tech start-ups. Among those investors, 37% held stakes in between 11 and 20 Deep Tech companies.
The sector attracted nearly $3 billion in funding during 2025, according to the report, representing its highest-ever annual funding level.
That achievement is particularly notable because overall start-up funding in India declined during the same period.
In other words, Deep Tech appears to be attracting capital even as investors have become more selective across the broader start-up ecosystem.
Yet India’s numbers remain relatively modest compared with the United States.
Deep Tech companies in the U.S. raised approximately $136 billion, highlighting the enormous funding gap that Indian start-ups still need to overcome.
The Biggest Problem May Be Patient Capital
India’s challenge is therefore not simply generating interest in Deep Tech. It is providing enough long-term capital for companies to grow.
Deep Tech businesses often have very different financial requirements from conventional software start-ups. Research and development can take years, infrastructure can be expensive, and commercialization may happen much later than investors expect.
That creates a particular problem for companies attempting to move from promising technology to global scale.
Tandon highlighted the shortage of investors capable of writing large domestic checks.
According to him, only around 2% of people in India are currently able to sign checks worth more than $10 million.
That means India’s Deep Tech ambitions will require greater participation from high-net-worth individuals, family offices, venture capital firms and other institutional investors.
Government funding can provide an important foundation, but it cannot necessarily replace a mature private capital ecosystem.
Can India Become a Global Deep Tech Leader?
The opportunity is potentially enormous, but the outcome is far from guaranteed.
India already has many of the ingredients investors look for: a large technology workforce, an expanding start-up ecosystem and growing expertise in areas such as artificial intelligence, space technology and advanced engineering.
What has been missing is the scale and depth of capital required to turn those capabilities into global companies.
The proposed $25 billion funding pool could begin to address that problem.
More importantly, it reflects a broader strategic shift. India’s Deep Tech ambitions are no longer solely about creating successful start-ups. They are increasingly tied to technological independence and the country’s ability to compete in an environment where access to critical technology can be influenced by geopolitics.
The road ahead will still be difficult. Deep Tech requires patience, substantial investment and investors willing to accept longer development cycles.
But India’s recent progress suggests that the ecosystem is changing.
With government funding helping to unlock private capital, a growing number of companies moving toward commercialization and international investors increasing their exposure, India may be entering an important new phase in its technology story.
The real test will be whether today’s investment can produce tomorrow’s global technology leaders.
If it can, India’s $25 billion Deep Tech bet could become much more than a funding program. It could help reshape the country’s position in the global technology race.
