Start with a free eligibility check, then one accountable team prepares and files your DPIIT application — and takes you on to the 80-IAC tax exemption and angel-tax relief it unlocks.
Get your Startup India recognition — free eligibility check firstTurn a real idea into a DPIIT-recognised startup — without guessing at the paperwork.
Founders we’ve worked with
Recognition is not a badge for its own sake — it is the key that unlocks the Startup India benefit stack.
Recognition is the gate to 80-IAC — a 100% deduction on profits for three consecutive years — and angel-tax relief under Section 56. The Finance Act 2025 extended the 80-IAC incorporation window to 1 April 2030, so companies formed now still qualify.
A DPIIT number signals a vetted, compliant entity — one less diligence flag when you raise.
Rebated patent and trademark filing with fast-tracked examination for recognised startups.
Self-certify under 6 labour and 3 environment laws for up to five years, cutting inspection load.
A named expert owns your file end to end — not a ticket queue or a call-centre handoff.
If you are not eligible yet, we say so and what to fix — before you pay for a filing that fails.
We connect recognition to what it unlocks: 80-IAC, angel-tax relief, compliance, fundraising docs.
You see where your application sits at every stage — no chasing, no black box.
DPIIT recognition is the official certificate the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade issues confirming your entity qualifies as a “startup” under Startup India. It is a precondition, not an automatic grant: recognition alone makes you eligible to separately apply for the 80-IAC tax holiday, angel-tax relief, rebated IP filing fees, labour/environment self-certification and startup-friendly government tenders.
Without recognition, most of those benefits are simply out of reach. With it, you can apply for the 80-IAC tax holiday, claim angel-tax relief, file IP at rebated rates, self-certify under several labour and environment laws, and access government tenders that waive prior-experience requirements for startups.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, administers Startup India. It defines who qualifies as a startup, runs the recognition process on the Startup India portal, and issues the recognition certificate and number. DPIIT also coordinates the downstream benefits — for example, the inter-ministerial board that approves the 80-IAC tax exemption sits within this framework.
Founders use “Startup India registration” and “DPIIT recognition” interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. Registration is joining the Startup India ecosystem on the portal; recognition is the certificate DPIIT issues that actually makes you eligible for the benefits. You need the second one.
| Parameter | Startup India registration | DPIIT recognition |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Signing up on the Startup India portal | An official recognition certificate from DPIIT |
| Issued by | Startup India portal | Dept. for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade |
| Purpose | Join the ecosystem, events and resources | Unlock tax, IP and funding benefits |
| Who qualifies | Broadly any registered entity | Startups meeting the DPIIT criteria below |
| What it unlocks | Programmes, networking, mentorship | 80-IAC, angel-tax relief, IP rebates, tenders |
The scheme exists to lower the friction that stops good ideas from becoming durable companies. In plain terms, it aims to:
To be recognised, an entity has to clear six checks. Meeting them is what the eligibility tool on this page reads against.
Only three structures can be recognised. The rest — however good the idea — have to convert first.
| Entity type | Eligible for DPIIT recognition |
|---|---|
| Private Limited Company | ✓ Yes — the structure most recognised startups use |
| Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) | ✓ Yes |
| Registered Partnership Firm | ✓ Yes |
| Sole Proprietorship | ✗ No |
| Public Limited Company | ✗ No |
| Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) | ✗ No |
You are outside the scheme if any of the following is true: your entity is older than ten years (twenty for a Deep Tech startup); turnover crossed ₹200 crore in any year (₹300 crore for Deep Tech); the business was created by reconstructing an existing one; or the structure is not a private limited company, LLP or registered partnership (a sole proprietorship, for instance, cannot apply). A business with no innovation or scalability angle — a straightforward trading or reselling operation — will also struggle to clear the recognition test.
Recognition is document-light compared with most filings, but the ones it needs have to be right:
Beyond documents, the portal application captures the entity’s registered details, the nature and industry of the business, the current stage (ideation, validation, early traction, scaling), the number of directors or partners and employees, and the authorised representative who will manage the recognition. Getting the innovation narrative and industry classification right here is what separates a clean approval from a query.
Recognition is an online process on the Startup India portal. The steps are simple; getting the innovation write-up and documents right the first time is what keeps it to a single pass.
| Stage | Typical time |
|---|---|
| Preparation & document check | 1–2 days |
| Application submission | 1 day |
| DPIIT review | 2–3 working days |
| Certificate issued | 3–5 working days |
Timelines are indicative — a complete, well-prepared application is the single biggest factor in staying at the fast end of this range.
Two separate things get called “the cost”, so let’s be precise. The government charges no fee for DPIIT recognition itself — the application on the Startup India portal is free. What you pay for is the professional work: confirming eligibility honestly, preparing the innovation write-up, assembling documents and filing it so it clears in one pass.
CapEasy’s professional fee starts from ₹. It is a starting point, not a menu price: a clean, clearly-innovative private limited company is not billed like a complex case with a thin innovation story or missing paperwork. We scope it after the free eligibility check and quote it upfront — before any work begins.
| What you pay for | Cost |
|---|---|
| DPIIT recognition — government fee | Nil |
| CapEasy professional fee (eligibility, write-up, filing) | From ₹ |
| Eligibility check & scoped quote | Free |
| 80-IAC application (separate, optional) | Quoted separately |
“Startup India” is an umbrella. Recognition is the key; these are the doors it opens. They are separate applications with their own criteria — recognition alone does not grant any of them.
Which of these you can realistically claim depends on your stage, structure and sector. That is exactly the read we give you in the free check — and you can browse the full set in our funding & grants directory.
Recognition is worth having because of what it switches on. The eight that matter most:
Recognition is not unconditional. If DPIIT finds that a certificate was obtained by furnishing incorrect or misleading information, it can revoke the recognition. That is one more reason the write-up and details should be accurate the first time — the lazy shortcut of overstating the innovation claim is the thing most likely to cost you the certificate later.
The mechanics of DPIIT recognition are not complex; getting them right — and then converting the certificate into the 80-IAC deduction and angel-tax relief it exists to unlock — is where founders lose time and money. CapEasy runs the eligibility read, prepares the application so it clears in one pass, and stays on the file through the benefits. Start with the free eligibility check above; if you do not qualify yet, we will tell you exactly what to fix.
A 15-minute honest read on whether recognition fits, what it unlocks for you, and what it will take — before you commit to anything.
Startup India recognition across India
How recognition and the grants it unlocks played out for founders we've worked with.
An AI healthcare startup had previously applied for Startup India recognition but received objections due to inadequate documentation and an unclear articulation of innovation. Without recognition, the founders faced delays in accessing government benefits and investor incentives.
Evoxia Labs, a DeepTech startup, needed structured access to India’s grant ecosystem — knowing which programmes fit, and getting applications right.
An agri-tech startup in Nashik qualified on merit for a government grant scheme but was struggling with the application itself — the technical narrative, financial projections, and supporting documentation were not aligned with what the evaluating body required, and earlier drafts risked rejection on process grounds.
Once a complete application is filed, DPIIT typically reviews it within a couple of weeks. The bigger variable is preparation — an incomplete or vague application is where most delays start, which is why we scope eligibility and documents up front.
Broadly: a private limited company, LLP, registered partnership or co-operative society, under 10 years old, with turnover under ₹200 crore in any year since incorporation, working on innovation or improvement of a product, process or service with scope to scale. A startup recognised as Deep Tech gets 20 years and a ₹300 crore ceiling instead. Run the eligibility check on this page for a specific read.
The government charges no fee for recognition itself. CapEasy charges a scoped professional fee for handling eligibility, documentation and filing — we quote it after a free assessment rather than a flat menu price, so a simple case is not billed like a complex one.
No. DPIIT recognition is the prerequisite, but 80-IAC is a separate application to the inter-ministerial board and approval is not automatic. Recognition opens the door; the 80-IAC claim is its own filing, which we also handle.
A private limited company, a limited liability partnership (LLP) and a registered partnership firm can all apply. Sole proprietorships and one-person entities that are not one of these structures cannot.
No. An entity older than ten years from its date of incorporation no longer meets the Startup India age criterion and is not eligible for recognition.
No. There is no minimum revenue or funding requirement. Recognition turns on structure, age, turnover ceiling and the innovation/scalability test — not on having raised money.
DPIIT may seek clarification or decline if the innovation case is thin or documents are incomplete. We prepare the write-up and evidence to pre-empt that, and if a query comes back we respond to it as part of the engagement.
Yes. If a startup is found to have obtained recognition by furnishing incorrect information, DPIIT can revoke the certificate. Keeping your filings accurate is part of staying recognised.
Yes — recognition is usually step one. We take the same file through 80-IAC and, where relevant, angel-tax relief under Section 56, so the certificate actually turns into the benefits it is meant to unlock.
An honest assessment of where you are and what comes next — no cost, no pressure, no inflated promises.
