From Promise to Practice: Startup Association Urges PM to Bridge Gap Between Budget Vision and Ground Reality
NEW DELHI — Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s post-Budget address, where he hailed the Union Budget as a transformative roadmap for a “#ViksitBharat,” the Indian Startup Association (ISUA) has issued a formal appeal to ensure that high-level policy visions translate into immediate, tangible actions for India’s struggling startup ecosystem.
While welcoming the Prime Minister’s emphasis on technology-driven governance and infrastructure expansion, Rathin Bhadra, National President of ISUA, pointed out critical bottlenecks in implementation that threaten the survival of young enterprises.
The AMRUT 2.0 Standoff
The association highlighted a significant lag in the AMRUT MoHUA 2.0 mission. In December 2023, ₹667 crore was announced under the Pitch Pilot Project for 107 selected startups specializing in urban water management. “Nearly three years have passed, and most of these startups have neither received payments nor further work orders,” Bhadra stated. The ISUA has demanded that these winners be given mandatory project allocations in every municipal corporation to address India’s water scarcity and recycling challenges.
Defence and Incubation Delays
The appeal also raised alarms over the sudden halt of the startup policy within the Military Engineer Services (MES). The ISUA has urged the Ministry of Defence to urgently consider their recommendations to prevent the stalling of innovation in the defense ecosystem. Furthermore, the association noted that university incubation centers are facing fund release delays of three to four years, a timeline that contradicts the government’s call for speed and efficiency.
A Call for Accountability
The ISUA has proposed a dashboard-based monitoring system for the ₹667 crore fund to ensure transparent disbursement. “The real success of this Budget will be measured not by announcements, but by timely payments and active project implementation,” Bhadra remarked, emphasizing that policies must move from “promise to practice” to maintain the confidence of the nation’s youth and entrepreneurs.
The association maintains that while the Budget provides the “growth engines,” the fuel—in the form of disbursed funds and work orders—must reach the grassroots level to achieve the goal of a $5 trillion economy.
