Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)

Pick the right call

• The NISE incubation call is for renewable energy startups that want incubation support. It is aimed at renewable energy technology start-ups.
• The Green Hydrogen call is narrower. It is for a start-up that wants to build a Green Hydrogen production or use pilot in India.
• If your product is still an idea with no working proof of concept, neither call is the right fit yet. Both ask for TRL 3 to 4 at application.

Before a call opens

• Get DPIIT recognition first. It is a basic condition in both calls, and funding is held back until it comes through.
• For incubation, check your cap table. At least 51% of shares must be held by Indian promoters.
• For the Green Hydrogen call, check that your company type is a private limited company, a partnership or an LLP, and that it is under 10 years old.
• Keep a clear description of your technology, your current TRL and how it would reach TRL 6 to 8.

How applications work

• The original incubation notice asked for an emailed PDF to incubation@nise.res.in, and the Green Hydrogen call took emailed proposals at hydrogen@nise.res.in. The incubation call was later revised by a corrigendum, so confirm the route in the current notice.
• Calls have a hard closing date. Both known calls have closed, and the incubation call was changed by a corrigendum after it opened. Always read the latest notice and corrigendum, not just the original.
• The Green Hydrogen call said it would not consider applications sent any other way.

Where to watch

• Check the notices and calls pages on mnre.gov.in for the next round.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the Government of India ministry responsible for solar, wind, green hydrogen and other renewable energy. It is not an incubator or a standing startup fund. Most of what it runs is aimed at households, utilities and large manufacturers. The part that matters to founders is a small number of calls for proposals, issued through the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), for DPIIT-recognised start-ups building renewable energy technology.

How programmes work

MNRE does not run an always-open application window for startups. Start-up support comes as calls for proposals with a fixed closing date. Two such calls were found: the NISE Start-up Incubation in Renewable Energy (RE) Sector call, issued in June 2025 and revised by a corrigendum in August 2025, and the National Green Hydrogen Mission call for pilot projects from start-ups, issued in 2025. Both closing dates have passed, so there is no open intake to apply to right now. MNRE publishes new calls and corrigenda on mnre.gov.in, so that is where to watch for a repeat.

The incubation call is run by NISE together with the National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) and the Atal Incubation Centre at IIT Delhi Sonipat Innovation Foundation, Haryana. It supports start-ups for an initial two years. The support can be extended by up to one further year, in two steps of six months each, based on a performance review.

The Green Hydrogen call is Part B of a pilot-projects scheme under the National Green Hydrogen Mission. It invites pilot proposals from start-ups developing new Green Hydrogen production or use technologies. The support is financial assistance for the pilot, capped at a share of the total equipment cost.

Who can apply

Both calls are limited to start-ups recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Both also ask for a solution at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 to 4. That means a proof of concept or a lab-validated prototype with a clear path to TRL 6 to 8, which is a market-ready stage.

For the incubation call, the start-up must be an Indian entity under the Companies Act, 2013, with at least 51% of its shares held by Indian promoters at the time of application.

For the Green Hydrogen call, the start-up must be a private limited company, a partnership or an LLP. It must be less than 10 years old and stay under a turnover ceiling set in the call. It must also intend to set up a Green Hydrogen pilot project in India. A start-up that has applied for DPIIT recognition but does not yet hold it can apply, but funding is released only after recognition comes through.

Pre-prototype ideas below TRL 3 do not fit the stage these calls describe.

How to apply

For the incubation call, the original notice asked applicants to fill the application form, convert it to PDF and email it with all enclosures to incubation@nise.res.in before the closing date. A later corrigendum revised the call, so read the current notice on mnre.gov.in for the exact submission route before you send anything.

For the Green Hydrogen call, proposals went by email to hydrogen@nise.res.in in the format given in the call. The call stated that any other means of application would not be considered.

Scale

On its homepage MNRE reports that India's installed solar capacity has grown from about 2.8 GW in 2014 to about 164.6 GW, and that wind capacity has grown from 21 GW to about 58.1 GW. It also reports that about 54.4% of installed power capacity now comes from non-fossil sources. These are the ministry's own figures for the country's energy system, not a count of startups it has supported. MNRE does not publish a startup count on the pages checked.

Who runs it

MNRE is part of the Government of India. NISE is the institute through which the start-up calls above were issued, and it receives the applications. The ministry's website is mnre.gov.in.

Other MNRE schemes

Our catalogue also lists the ministry's household rooftop solar scheme, PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. It is aimed at households, not startups, so it is not a startup route. If you build for households, such as installers or financing products, read the scheme page on its own terms.