The National Institution for Transforming India popularly known as NITI Aayog emerged on January 1, 2015, it helps to frame strategic policies and programmes, for the Government of India and along with it also offers technical advice to center as well as the state.

Recently NITI Aayog, has announced to help eligible schools, individual or any organization for setting up Tinkering labs and for Incubation centres. In this respect, they have sent an invitation to the schools/ organization inviting applications. The desired concern can apply to avail the three prominent schemes to NITI Aayog under AIM ( Atal Innovation Mission) for the following:

• To establish Tinkering laboratories in the school.
• To establish New incubation centres.
• To scale up the Incubation centres.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is by the Government of India to develop and promote the stream of innovation, technology and entrepreneurship. One of the core functions of AIM is Innovation promotion, for which it is going to establish 500 Tinkering Labs for schools known as Atal Tinkering Laboratories. This will allow the students to work live with the requisite tools, so that they can understand the concept better. The aim of this initiative is to urge innovation, creativity, and scientific temper among the students. AIM will provide, Rs 10 lakh of grant in aid for establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories in school with 6th to 12th grade in India. Then over a span of 5 years an additional grant of 10 lakh would be provided to meet the operational expenses. Thereby on the whole Rs 20 lakh would be spent on each ATL. Several regional and national level competitions would be conducted for the children to showcase their innovation.

The other core function of AIM is entrepreneurship promotion, for which it will also provide financial assistance to non- financial institutions which include tech- parks, companies, group of individual etc. for establishing incubation centres across places in India. The establishment is restricted to only specific subject areas like energy, education, health, agriculture, transport, manufacturing, water and sanitation. These centre would be called as an Atal’s Incubation Centre, which would provide some vital infrastructural and pre- incubation facilities. Some of the services by it would include development assistance regarding technology, access to funds, business support service ( for a different individual on different area), training and development, networking and mentoring etc.

The main motto of this is to help the startup’s, new innovators or developers to help them flourish with proper assistance. Thereby AIM would provide Rs. 10 crores to set up a new AIC in a period of 5 years for capital investment with operation and maintenance expenses. The objective of AIM is establish 100 Atal Incubation Centre’s in 2016-17.

To improvise a re-design the established incubation centre, AIM would provide a support of grant in aid of Rs. 10 crore in a span of 2 years. This would increase the standard of incubation centres network in the country.

These schemes have been developed after thorough examination and consultation with the help of various stakeholders. The applicants would be well screened on a competitive approach before granting the establishment of the above- mentioned facilities. The applicants who wish to avail this schemes can refer www.niti.gov.in and go through the Atal Innovation Mission guideline and submit the applications.