Cabinet approves continuation of Atal Innovation Mission till March 2023

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Friday approved continuation of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) till March 2023, according to an official statement. The statement further said the intended targets that will be achieved by AIM include establishing 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) as well as 101 Atal Incubation Centers (AICs), and supporting 200 startups via the Atal New India Challenges.

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Total budgeted expenditure of Rs 2,000 crore plus shall be incurred in the process of the establishment and supporting the beneficiaries, it added.

The mission has been set up under the NITI Aayog, in accordance with the finance minister's declaration in the 2015 Budget speech. The objectives of the AIM are to create and promote an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country via interventions at school, university, research institutions, MSME and industry levels.

The AIM has focused on both infrastructure creation and institution building, it added. The statement noted that AIM-supported startups have raised Rs 2,000 crores plus from the government and private equity investors, besides creating several thousand jobs.

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Together, the programmes of AIM cover 34 states and Union Territories with the goal of leveraging India's demographic dividend by inspiring greater participation in the innovation ecosystem.