Startup Policy Incentives 2025-30
A programme by Startup Karnataka
Reimbursement claims open to any startup registered with KITS — state GST, patent filing costs and other incentives under the 2025-30 policy.
At a glance
| Best for | Any startup registered with KITS under the Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30 |
|---|---|
| Cost | Free, no equity |
About Startup Policy Incentives 2025-30
These are the fiscal incentives attached to the Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30, claimed after you have spent the money rather than won a call. They are the one route here that is open on a rolling basis.
What you get
- Reimbursement of a share of net state GST, available for seven years from the start of commercial production, capped against fixed capital investment
- A patent subsidy covering a share of actual filing expenses, with a limited number of claims a year, for both domestic and international filings; part is released on proof of submission to a recognised patent office and the rest after the supporting documents are verified
Who can apply
- Entities meeting the startup definition in the Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30
- Registered with the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society as a startup
How to apply: upload the documents each incentive lists on the Startup Karnataka portal and submit the claim. The GST claim needs the GST registration certificate, a CA-certified statement of net GST paid, tax returns for the year claimed, bank statements showing the spend, proof of fixed capital investment, and a notarised affidavit on stamp paper. Claims must be submitted once a year and no later than one year after the end of the financial year in which the GST was incurred. The patent claim needs invoices, receipts, bank statements and the same affidavit, and must be made within a year of filing the patent.
Where to apply
Other Startup Karnataka programmes
- ELEVATE (Idea2PoC Grant-in-Aid Scheme)Karnataka's main grant-in-aid call for startups incorporated in the state, taking an idea to proof of concept and then to scale.
- ELEVATE NxTThe deep-tech grant-in-aid track under LEAP, open to startups anywhere in India that move their registered office to Karnataka if they win.
- Rajiv Gandhi Entrepreneurship Program (RGEP)A twelve-month subsistence grant for individual innovators in Karnataka taking an idea to a prototype or proof of concept.
- WEscalateThe women-founder track, run as six months of incubation followed by six months of acceleration through incubators the department selects.
- Preferential Market Access (PMA)An empanelment route that puts Karnataka startups on a pre-qualified list state departments and public sector units buy from.
- Grassroot Innovation ProgrammeSupport for farmers, artisans, labourers and technicians in Karnataka to perfect and commercialise a practical innovation.
- New Age Innovation Network 2.0 (NAIN 2.0)Incubation centres inside colleges outside Bengaluru Urban District, funding student projects through the host institution.
- Local Economy Accelerator Program (LEAP)The umbrella state programme funding 16 components across six clusters outside Bengaluru — not something you apply to directly.
- Booster KitA directory of empanelled service partners offering registered Karnataka startups legal, staffing, investor-readiness and company-management help.
- Beyond Bengaluru Cluster Seed FundAn announced fund for early-stage startups outside Bengaluru Urban District; the department has not published an application route for it.
- Fund of FundsAn equity fund the department says it will set up for long-gestation innovation, weighted towards clusters outside Bengaluru; no application route published.