NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and lauded the Cabinet's decision after it approved Rs 2, 750 crore for the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) 2.0.
"Thanks to PM Narendra Modi Ji for the visionary initiative, " the Union Home Minister said on Monday.
In a post on X, the Union Home Minister expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the decision.
"The Union Cabinet's decision to approve the Rs 2, 750 crore Atal Innovation Mission 2.0 initiative will turbocharge the innovative power of our youth by extending the culture of thinking out of the box to new regions and fields, " he said in a post on X.
The Union Minister said that the AIM scheme will 'turbocharge' the innovative power of the youth.
Earlier on Monday, the Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Modi, approved the continuation of its flagship initiative, the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under the aegis of NITI Aayog.
The initiative has an enhanced scope of work and an allocated budget of Rs 2, 750 crore for the period until March 31, 2028.
According to an official statement, AIM 2.0 is a step towards a "Viksit Bharat" (Developed India) that aims to expand, strengthen, and deepen India's already vibrant innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The approval underscores the government's commitment to fostering a robust innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in India.
With India at rank 39th on the Global Innovation Index and being home to the world's third-largest start-up ecosystem, the next phase of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM 2.0) is expected to further elevate India's global competitiveness.
The continuation of AIM will directly contribute to creating better jobs, innovative products, and high-impact services across sectors.
While building on the accomplishments of AIM 1.0, such as Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and Atal Incubation Centres (AIC), AIM 2.0 marks a qualitative shift in the mission's approach.
Whereas AIM 1.0 involved implementing programs that built innovation infrastructure to strengthen India's then-nascent ecosystem, AIM 2.0 will pilot new initiatives designed to fill gaps in the ecosystem and scale successes through Central and state governments, industry, academia, and community.
AIM 2.0 is designed to strengthen India's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in three ways, including increasing input, improving the success rate, and enhancing the quality of 'output', the statement said.