DST NIDHI-PRAYAS Scheme

SJCE-STEP is a NIDHI-PRAYAS centre, which we confirmed against the Department of Science and Technology's own directory of PRAYAS centres. The scheme funds the step between a proof of concept and a physical prototype you can test, and the centre runs it alongside its makerspace so grantees build on site.

What you get

• Grant support for selected innovators, released against milestones over twelve months
• Access to the PRAYAS Shala makerspace, stated at over 5,000 sq ft with more than 108 tools
• Design-for-manufacturing and electronic testing guidance from the centre's technicians
• Full ownership of your intellectual property, with no equity and no royalty taken
• A stated route onward into the centre's seed funding and investor cohorts

Who can apply

• Innovators, grassroots creators and early-stage technology founders building physical hardware
• The centre's own page raises the question of whether individuals and students can apply without a registered company, but does not answer it in readable text - ask before you assume either way

How to apply: through the Apply page on the centre's site, or by writing to info@sjcestep.in, which is also the PRAYAS centre helpdesk. Ask first whether an intake is currently open: the centre's page says admissions are open, while DST's directory shows the call as closed, and DST publishes no centre list for the current round of the scheme.