India’s Green Energy Startup Challenge – Win up to ₹1 Crore

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has launched a unique national innovation challenge titled the Innovative Projects Start-Up Challenge, aimed at accelerating progress in rooftop solar and distributed renewable energy (DRE) solutions across India. This initiative is designed to identify and support breakthrough innovations that can reshape India’s energy landscape by promoting clean, decentralized, and accessible power solutions.

The challenge invites applications from startups and innovators across the country, encouraging ideas that align with four key thematic areas: Affordability (making solar and DRE solutions cost-effective), Resilience (ensuring reliability and adaptability to adverse conditions), Inclusivity (broadening access across diverse social and economic groups), and Environmental Sustainability (minimizing ecological impact). These themes reflect the core priorities for scaling sustainable energy in a socially equitable and climate-responsible manner.

Participants stand a chance to compete for a total prize pool of ₹2.3 crore, which includes a First Prize of ₹1 crore, Second Prize of ₹50 lakh, Third Prize of ₹30 lakh, and 10 Consolation Prizes worth ₹5 lakh each. In addition to monetary rewards, selected winners will benefit from incubation support (assistance in developing and scaling up their ideas), pilot implementation opportunities (testing solutions in real-world scenarios), and mentorship from domain experts and investors, which is critical for early-stage startups navigating the energy sector.

Applications must be submitted via the Startup India website, and the last date to apply is 20th August. This challenge represents a significant opportunity for India’s clean-tech entrepreneurs to contribute meaningfully to the country’s green energy transition, especially in areas such as rooftop solar—small-scale solar installations on buildings—and distributed energy, which refers to energy generated at or near the point of use, reducing dependency on centralized power systems.

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