From Policy to Practice: A Case Study of Central Government Support for Startups in India

India’s startup ecosystem has received increasing policy attention through government initiatives intended to promote innovation, improve access to finance and strengthen entrepreneurship. The Startup India framework encompasses multiple instruments, including seed funding, investment mobilisation, credit guarantees and regulatory facilitation. However, the presence of several programmes raises questions about their complementarity, implementation and ability to address the diverse constraints faced by startups.This paper examines selected central government startup-support initiatives through a qualitative case-study approach. Using official government documents, scheme guidelines, parliamentary responses and relevant academic literature, it analyses the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS). It also considers the subsequent introduction of Startup India Fund of Funds 2.0. The analysis compares programme objectives, financing mechanisms, delivery arrangements and publicly reported implementation indicators.The findings illustrate how the three original schemes address different financing constraints: early-stage product development, mobilisation of equity investment and access to debt finance. However, reported commitments, approvals, investments and guaranteed loans are not interchangeable measures, nor do they independently establish programme effectiveness. The paper argues that assessing public startup support requires greater attention to accessibility, coordination, beneficiary outcomes and the distinction between programme activity and economic impact. It proposes an outcome-oriented framework for evaluating central government startup policy and identifies directions for future empirical research.