New Delhi, August 29, 2026: The Department of Pharmaceuticals has announced the second call for applications under the Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma & MedTech (PRIP) Scheme. With a total financial outlay of ₹5,000 crore, the scheme is aimed at helping startups, MSMEs and established companies take promising technologies from research and development to higher levels of technology readiness and, ultimately, commercialisation.
The second call is expected to be particularly relevant for startups working on new medicines, complex generics, biosimilars and novel medical devices, including companies developing software-led and technology-intensive healthcare products. The application window on the PRIP portal is scheduled to open by mid-September, giving prospective applicants time to assess their projects, determine their technology readiness level and prepare the required documentation.
For early-stage startups and MSMEs, the scheme offers financial assistance of up to ₹5 crore per project. Projects currently at Technology Readiness Level, or TRL, 1, 2 or 3 can seek support to move to higher technology readiness levels, although the programme will support them only up to TRL 5 under this track. The application process will begin with a Concept Note, after which shortlisted applicants will be asked to submit a detailed proposal.
₹5 Crore for Early-Stage, ₹100 Crore for Later-Stage Projects Under PRIP
The early-stage route could be particularly important for young companies that have developed promising research or an early technology but have not yet reached the level of validation needed to attract substantial private capital. Startups and eligible MSMEs can submit Concept Notes directly, while ecosystem enablers can also submit promising projects from their networks on behalf of eligible applicants.
The funding opportunity becomes substantially larger for companies that are already further along in development. Under the later-stage track, startups, MSMEs and industry can apply for projects at TRL 4, 5 or 6 and seek support to take those technologies to higher readiness levels. Financial assistance can go up to ₹100 crore per project. However, there is a significant co-funding requirement: government assistance will be capped at 35% of the approved total project cost, with the applicant required to fund the balance.
For a medtech company preparing for advanced product development, validation or regulatory milestones, or a pharmaceutical startup moving a promising candidate towards later-stage development, this structure could make PRIP a potentially important source of non-dilutive government support. At the same time, the co-funding requirement means companies pursuing larger projects will need to demonstrate that they have the financial capacity to support the remaining project cost.
The government has identified a broad set of priority areas under the scheme. In pharmaceuticals, the programme covers new medicines, including new chemical entities, new biological entities and phyto-pharmaceuticals. It also covers complex generics and biosimilars, areas where India has an established manufacturing base but where continued investment in research, development and advanced technologies remains important.
The medtech opportunity is equally broad. The scheme includes novel medical devices and targeted innovative therapeutics, covering devices that have not previously been approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation. Among the technologies specifically covered are AI and machine-learning-based medical devices, software as a medical device, software in a medical device, genetic technology-based diagnostic and screening devices, robotic systems for surgical procedures, medical devices incorporating telemedicine capabilities and novel in-vitro diagnostic devices, including biomarker technologies supporting precision medicine.
The breadth of these categories means the second call could attract applications from a wide range of healthcare startups, from drug discovery and biosimilar developers to diagnostics companies, medical robotics businesses and software-driven medtech ventures. For founders, however, the strength of an application is likely to depend not simply on being active in one of the identified sectors, but on demonstrating a clear technology-development roadmap and measurable milestones.
That focus on technology readiness is central to the structure of PRIP. Early-stage companies are being asked to show how funding can move their technology from the initial research stages towards a more developed and validated stage, while later-stage applicants need to demonstrate how additional funding can help take an already more mature technology further along the development pathway.
The second call also comes with an important instruction for companies that participated in the first round. Applicants that submitted projects under PRIP Round 1 have been advised not to submit the same project again. Startups considering a fresh proposal should therefore carefully distinguish any new or substantially different project from previous submissions and review the latest scheme requirements before applying.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals has made application resources available through the PRIP portal, including the scheme and its guidelines, guidance for preparing Concept Notes, guidance for the detailed application form, a Milestone Descriptor Catalogue and frequently asked questions. An Application Support Toolkit has also been provided to help applicants understand different aspects of the programme.
PRIP was launched in 2023 with the broader objective of strengthening research and innovation in India’s pharmaceutical sector and building world-class research infrastructure and talent. The programme also seeks to improve the chances of commercialising viable research outcomes by connecting industry and startups with mentorship and other forms of ecosystem support.
For startups, that commercialisation focus may prove as important as the funding itself. Pharma and medtech companies often face long development cycles, expensive validation requirements and regulatory hurdles before a research idea can become a marketable product. Support mechanisms that help companies move through these stages can potentially reduce some of the financing pressure faced by founders during the transition from laboratory research to product development.
Initiatives such as MedTech Mitra and Patent Mitra are also part of the broader ecosystem being developed around the scheme, with the government seeking to encourage collaboration and partnerships among startups, industry, researchers and other stakeholders.
With the second application window expected to open by mid-September, startups should begin preparing rather than wait for the portal to go live. Companies will need to establish where their technology currently sits on the TRL scale, identify the specific development milestones they intend to achieve and determine which of the two PRIP tracks best fits their project.
For early-stage applicants, the Concept Note will be the first major screening point, making clarity around the technology, problem being addressed, development stage and proposed next milestone important. Companies considering the later-stage route will need to look more closely at the overall project economics as well, given the requirement to co-fund at least 65% of the approved project cost.
The second PRIP call therefore arrives at a critical point for India’s growing pharma and medtech startup ecosystem. With funding available from ₹5 crore for early-stage projects to as much as ₹100 crore for qualifying later-stage projects, the programme provides startups and MSMEs with another route to finance technology development without relying entirely on conventional venture capital.
The immediate task for founders is to determine whether their technology, development stage and project plan fit the scheme and to use the period before the application window opens to build a proposal around clear milestones, technical progress and a credible path towards commercialisation.
Applications will be submitted through the official PRIP portal once the window opens in September. Applicants with questions about the programme can contact the Department of Pharmaceuticals at support-prip@pharma-dept.gov.in.
