India opens new drug-discovery funding track with assistance up to ₹50 crore

The September 30 PRIP announcement invites early research proposals from startups and small firms, with institutional investors required to co-fund at least 25% of project costs.

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30 September 2026 · 1 min read

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Report prepared 1 Oct 2026, 1:55 pm IST · Event date shown above

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The September 30 PRIP announcement invites early research proposals from startups and small firms, with institutional investors required to co-fund at least 25% of project costs.

Event / development: 30 Sept 2026
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The Department of Pharmaceuticals announced a new drug-discovery funding track on September 30 and said applications had opened under the second call of its PRIP research scheme. The official release and an independent Business Standard report describe assistance of up to ₹50 crore per company, project or project portfolio, subject to at least 25% institutional-investor co-funding.

The track covers eligible startups and micro, small and medium enterprises researching new chemical or biological medicines at an early stage. It is intended to help work advance towards development. Research funding does not establish that a treatment is effective, approved for patients or ready for sale.

The department separately reported that 41 projects under the first call had been approved for about ₹1,600 crore of assistance. That is a cumulative approval figure, not confirmation that all those decisions occurred that day or that the money has been paid. Remaining first-round applications were still being evaluated.