Published: 17 October 2026
The Rajasthan Startup Policy 2022 is the state’s main plan to fund startups registered under iStart Rajasthan. It sets a grant for each stage of a startup’s life. The money runs from a Rs 2.4 lakh idea grant to a Rs 5 crore equity match.
StartupFeed Quick Take
- Seed startups can get a Viability Grant of up to Rs 60 lakh, set by their QRate rating.
- Growth startups can get a Scale-up Fund of up to Rs 2 crore, or an equity match up to Rs 5 crore.
- The policy is still live in 2026 and runs through iStart Rajasthan.
The DoIT&C announced the Rajasthan Startup Policy 2022 on November 13, 2022, at the DigiFest event in Jodhpur. The then Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, launched it. The Department of Information Technology and Communication, called DoIT&C, runs it.
Seed-stage startups can get a grant of up to Rs 60 lakh. Growth-stage startups can get a fund of up to Rs 2 crore. Both amounts depend on a startup’s QRate rating, the state’s startup score.
In This Article
What the Rajasthan Startup Policy 2022 gives you
The Rajasthan Startup Policy 2022 gives money at every stage, from a first idea to a growth round. A pre-seed startup can get an Ideation Grant of Rs 2.4 lakh. A woman-led startup gets Rs 60,000 more, so Rs 3 lakh in all.
A seed startup can get a Viability Grant of up to Rs 60 lakh. A growth startup can pick one of two options. The first is a Scale-up Fund of up to Rs 2 crore.
The second option is a Startup Equity Fund. It matches your raise up to Rs 5 crore. On top of the grant, the policy adds boosters for jobs, products, priority sectors and founders from under-served groups.
The policy also gives tax breaks, patent refunds and easier government work orders. Every benefit needs iStart registration first. Most also need a QRate rating.
The state frames this as support for founders everywhere, not just the big cities. Ashish Gupta, who helped run the IT department, put it this way:
“IT isn’t defined by any particular geography, and it’s for everyone, whether it’s for a farmer, a startup, a student.”
Ashish Gupta, Commissioner and Joint Secretary, DoIT&C. From a YourStory report, December 6, 2022.
Who can apply
Any startup registered under iStart Rajasthan can apply, if it meets the state’s rules. The startup must be under 10 years old, counted from the date it was set up. Its yearly turnover must stay under Rs 100 crore.
The startup must be registered in Rajasthan, or keep a branch or sales office in the state. The business must be new, not built by splitting an old company. It should work on a fresh product, process or service, with room to grow and create jobs.
These rules follow the national DPIIT definition of a startup. The QRate rating then sets how much money a startup can get. QRate runs across five levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Signature.
A higher score unlocks a bigger grant. A startup with no QRate can still apply. It can get up to Rs 10 lakh, after a committee check.
Seed and growth grants, stage by stage
Your grant depends on your stage and your QRate rating. A seed-stage startup gets the Viability Grant. The slabs are shown below.
| QRate rating | Viability Grant (seed stage) | Time to upgrade for more |
|---|---|---|
| iStart registered, no QRate | Up to Rs 10 lakh | Not applicable |
| Bronze (score 1-20) | Up to Rs 20 lakh | 3 months |
| Bronze (score 20-40) | Up to Rs 30 lakh | 3 months |
| Bronze (score 40-50) | Up to Rs 40 lakh | 3 months |
| Silver and above | Up to Rs 60 lakh | 18 months |
The grant can rise if you lift your QRate score within the set time. A growth-stage startup gets the Scale-up Fund instead. Its slabs are below.
| QRate rating | Scale-up Fund (growth stage) | Time to upgrade for more |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze | Up to Rs 1 crore | Not applicable |
| Silver | Up to Rs 1.5 crore | 18 months |
| Gold and above | Up to Rs 2 crore | 30 months |
The Scale-up Fund pays up to half of the money you raise, as convertible debt or equity. Or you can take the Startup Equity Fund, where the state matches your raise up to Rs 5 crore. A growth startup picks one of the two, not both.
Boosters that top up your grant
Boosters add a percentage on top of your Viability Grant or Scale-up Fund. You can stack one booster from each of three groups. Group one is a Performance Booster or an Employment Booster.
The Performance Booster pays 10% to 20% as you climb QRate levels in time. The Employment Booster pays 10% to 20% for hiring well above the floor. The floor is 10 jobs at seed stage and 15 jobs at growth stage.
Group two is a Product Booster or a Thrust Booster, each worth 10%. The Product Booster is for startups that make a physical product. The Thrust Booster is for startups in priority sectors like agriculture, health, fintech and clean energy.
Group three is worth 10%. It is for startups led by women, transgender or specially-abled founders, or founders from SC/ST or rural areas. These founders also get 10% of iStart Nest seats kept aside for them.
Tax breaks, patents and work orders
The policy gives more than grants. It cuts taxes, pays back patent costs and opens government buying. A startup gets a 75% subsidy on state taxes paid, for seven years, under RIPS 2022.
A startup also gets 100% off electricity duty, mandi fee and land tax, for seven years. The policy refunds up to 75% of patent costs, up to Rs 5 lakh per startup. It pays back half the cost of a quality certificate, up to Rs 25 lakh.
The Rajasthan Stack of cloud and software tools is free for pre-seed and seed startups. Growth startups pay half price. This runs for three years.
On government buying, a department can place an order of up to Rs 15 lakh with a startup, with no tender. A Bronze startup can win three such orders a year, a Signature startup six. Startups led by women, transgender or SC/ST founders get one extra order.
Is the Rajasthan Startup Policy still open in 2026?
Yes. The Rajasthan Startup Policy 2022 is still the state’s live startup policy in 2026. The policy runs for five years from its start, and stays in force until the state brings a new one.
No replacement has been announced. The 2026-27 state budget, read in the assembly in February 2026, named no new startup policy. iStart stays the single window to apply, through the SSO Rajasthan login.
iStart data from November 2025 counted more than 7,100 registered startups in the state. These startups have drawn more than Rs 1,000 crore in investment and created over 42,500 jobs, the data showed.
Startup India also rated Rajasthan a Leader in Category A in its fifth state ranking, which covered the period up to November 2024. A linked scheme, RIPS 2022, carries many of the tax benefits. It runs until March 31, 2027.
About the Rajasthan Startup Policy 2022: It is the second startup policy of Rajasthan, after the 2015 one. The Department of Information Technology and Communication runs it through the iStart program. The policy links each benefit to a startup’s life stage and its QRate score. It sits beside RIPS 2022, which carries the tax and investment benefits.
Before you apply, a quick checklist:
- Register your startup on iStart Rajasthan through the SSO Rajasthan login.
- Check you are under 10 years old and under Rs 100 crore turnover.
- Get a QRate rating to unlock a higher grant slab.
- Pick your stage: pre-seed, seed or growth.
- For growth, choose the Scale-up Fund or the Rs 5 crore equity match, not both.
- Keep your patent and certificate bills to claim refunds later.
StartupFeed Insight
The headline numbers look large, but the slabs do the real work. A no-QRate startup gets Rs 10 lakh, while a Silver seed startup gets Rs 60 lakh, six times more. So the QRate score, not the idea alone, decides the payout. Founders in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Kota should get rated early and apply inside the five-year window. The policy started in November 2022, so watch for a review or a fresh policy around late 2027. RIPS 2022, which carries the tax breaks, ends on March 31, 2027, and that date will likely push the next move.
By Soumya Verma, Senior Correspondent
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