The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) signed separate Memoranda of Understanding with PhonePe and Shell India Pvt Ltd on 19 August 2026 in New Delhi to strengthen support for DPIIT-recognised startups. The two partnerships will give recognised startups easier access to digital infrastructure, mentorship, markets and investor networks. Together they aim to speed up innovation in fintech and other digital sectors as well as in energy and climate technology, two areas seen as central to India’s future growth.
What Are the Two New MoUs About?
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry signed two separate MoUs on 19 August 2026 in New Delhi, one with PhonePe and another with Shell India Pvt Ltd. Both agreements share a common goal, to strengthen the support system for DPIIT-recognised startups and to accelerate innovation in strategic sectors. The partnerships were announced on 20 August 2026 and are designed to improve access to technology, digital infrastructure, mentorship, market opportunities and industry networks.
The agreements do not provide direct funding from the government. Instead they create a formal channel for private sector resources and expertise to reach recognised startups through the Startup India platform. Under this model, DPIIT acts as a facilitator that connects startups with the tools, guidance and networks offered by the two companies. The approach reflects a wider DPIIT strategy of signing sector-specific MoUs with established corporates to bridge the gap between early-stage innovation and market scale.
| Partnership | Focus Sectors | Core Support Offered |
|---|---|---|
| DPIIT and PhonePe | Fintech, digital commerce, app-based services | Payment gateway credits, app distribution, onboarding help, brand visibility |
| DPIIT and Shell India | Energy, climate tech, sustainability | Mentorship, investor connect, pilot opportunities through Shell E4 |
The DPIIT: India’s Nodal Agency for Startups and Industry
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is a central government department under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is responsible for overall industrial policy, promotion of domestic trade, ease of doing business, foreign direct investment policy, intellectual property rights and logistics development. DPIIT was first set up as the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in 1995 and was renamed to DPIIT in January 2019 to reflect its expanded role covering internal trade.
DPIIT is also the nodal agency for the Startup India initiative, which was launched on 16 January 2016 to build a strong and inclusive ecosystem for entrepreneurship. Through Startup India, DPIIT grants official recognition to eligible startups and coordinates a range of national programmes. These include the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), the Fund of Funds for Startups operated through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the National Startup Awards, the States’ Startup Ranking, the MAARG mentorship portal and the BHASKAR platform for startup and investor discovery.
Startup India and DPIIT Recognition
A startup can be called a DPIIT-recognised startup only after it receives a Certificate of Recognition from DPIIT under the criteria notified in G.S.R. 127(E) dated 19 February 2019, updated by G.S.R. 108(E) dated 4 February 2026. An entity must be incorporated as a Private Limited Company, Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), Registered Partnership Firm or Cooperative Society, should not be more than 10 years old from incorporation, should have turnover not exceeding ₹200 crore in any financial year since incorporation, and must be working towards innovation or a scalable business model. For Deep Tech startups the window is 20 years and the turnover ceiling is ₹300 crore.
Recognition is free and applied for on the National Single Window System (NSWS) or the Startup India portal. As of 31 October 2025, DPIIT had recognised 1,97,692 entities as startups, and estimates in early 2026 placed the number at more than 2.25 lakh across 669 districts, making India the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. Recognised startups get access to key benefits such as a 3-year income tax holiday under Section 80-IAC within the first 10 years, exemption from angel tax under Section 56(2)(viib), 80 percent rebate on patent fees and 50 percent rebate on trademark fees, self-certification under 9 labour laws and 3 environmental laws, fast-track winding up, and easier participation in Government e-Marketplace (GeM) tenders with waivers on prior turnover and earnest money deposit.
What PhonePe Will Offer to Startups
PhonePe is an Indian digital payments and financial services company founded in December 2015 by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer. It is headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, and is currently owned by the US retail group Walmart after its separation from Flipkart in December 2022. The PhonePe app, which went live in August 2016 on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), is available in 11 Indian languages and serves more than 60 crore registered users along with over 3.6 crore merchants, making it one of India’s largest fintech platforms.
Under its MoU with DPIIT, PhonePe will extend a package of practical support to DPIIT-recognised startups, especially those building consumer internet, fintech and app-based products. The support includes transaction credits through the PhonePe Payment Gateway, which will help early-stage startups lower their cost of accepting digital payments, and access to the Indus AppStore, PhonePe’s made-in-India Android app store. The company will also provide dedicated onboarding and support services to help startups integrate quickly, along with opportunities for enhanced brand visibility through curated listings and promotional support.
The Indus AppStore was launched as a developer platform on 23 September 2023 and as a full app marketplace on 21 February 2024. It hosts more than 2 lakh apps in 45 categories and supports 12 Indian languages. Unlike global app stores that typically charge a commission of 11 to 26 percent on in-app payments, the Indus AppStore allows developers to use any third-party payment gateway and charges zero commission on in-app purchases. It did not charge any listing fee for the first year and now charges only a nominal annual fee. For startups struggling with user acquisition costs, this low-cost distribution channel can be critical. It is already available on more than 10 crore devices and offers features like video-led discovery, regional language localisation and 24 hour developer support, all of which are valuable for product startups from smaller cities aiming for pan-India reach.
What Shell India Will Offer to Energy and Climate Tech Startups
The MoU with Shell India Pvt Ltd, the Indian arm of the global energy group Shell plc headquartered in London, United Kingdom, is focused on startups in energy and climate technology. These include areas such as clean energy, battery technology, sustainable mobility, industrial decarbonisation and digital tools for energy efficiency. Through this partnership, Shell India will provide mentorship and strategic guidance from its business and technical experts, investor and incubator connect to help startups raise follow-on capital, and opportunities to participate in the Shell E4 Smart Energy Track.
Startups selected through this channel will be able to test their solutions through pilots, access Shell’s customer and partner networks, and receive guidance on scaling products in a capital intensive sector. The initiative is intended to help energy startups move from lab proof of concept to market deployment faster and to contribute to India’s clean energy transition, which is closely linked to the national target of achieving net zero emissions by 2070.
Understanding Shell E4 and the Clean Energy Push
Shell E4, which stands for Energizing and Enabling Energy Entrepreneurs, is the flagship accelerator of Shell India. It was launched in 2017 and is run from the Shell Technology Centre Bangalore (STCB). STCB is a 52 acre custom built campus in North Bengaluru opened in March 2017 and is one of Shell’s three global technology hubs, along with Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Houston in the United States. The centre houses more than 1,500 experts and works on areas such as liquefied natural gas, subsurface modelling, water technology and waste-to-fuel research including the IH2 technology.
Since 2017, Shell E4 has supported more than 40 startups through dedicated tracks for different maturity stages, from early ideation to growth-ready companies that already have deployed products and revenue. Earlier cohorts received support of $20,000 per startup, while the 2025 edition increased funding to $1,00,000 to $5,00,000 from Shell Ventures as a convertible loan for selected growth-stage startups, subject to due diligence and evaluation criteria. Beyond capital, the programme offers access to Shell’s R&D labs, business units and global network of researchers, along with post-programme engagement and real world pilots, which many experts see as more valuable than one time mentorship.
This energy focus connects directly to India’s climate priorities. Clean energy startups need long development cycles, heavy testing and close work with large buyers. A corporate accelerator like E4 that can offer both technical infrastructure and market access helps fill that gap.
Why These Partnerships Matter for India’s Startup Ecosystem
India’s startup ecosystem has grown from around 350 recognised entities at the launch of Startup India in 2016 to more than two lakh today. According to data shared in Parliament and in the Economic Survey 2025-26, recognised startups are present in all states and union territories and in hundreds of districts, with about half from Tier II and Tier III cities and nearly 48 percent having at least one woman director. The ecosystem has created more than 21 to 23 lakh direct jobs and has attracted strong domestic and foreign capital, with total venture funding of close to $11 billion in 2025.
Yet scale brings new challenges. Many startups cite the same barriers, high cost of digital infrastructure, lack of mentorship, weak market linkages and limited access to lead investors. Government schemes provide tax and compliance relief, but startups still need private sector tools to reduce burn and reach customers. This is where the new MoUs add value. PhonePe’s credits and app store address the immediate problem of payment costs and distribution for digital startups, while Shell’s labs and investor connect address the deeper problem of validation and scaling for hardware-heavy energy startups.
DPIIT has followed a consistent partnership model in recent months. It has signed similar MoUs with companies such as Blue Star, ReNew, Repos Energy, CarDekho and Bharat Startup Grand Challenge partners to cover manufacturing, mobility and fuel technology. Each MoU uses the Startup India portal as the outreach backbone and adds a sector specific benefit layer. The two latest MoUs strengthen that network by adding a fintech leader handling nearly half of India’s UPI transaction value and an energy major with a strong R&D base in Bengaluru. For recognised startups, the message is that formal recognition now opens doors beyond government incentives to direct corporate resources.
| Ecosystem Indicator | Detail |
|---|---|
| DPIIT-recognised startups (31 Oct 2025) | 1,97,692, with about 6,385 recorded as closed as per MCA data |
| Estimated recognised startups (early 2026) | More than 2.25 lakh across 669 districts |
| Jobs created | Over 21 lakh, with nearly half of startups led or co-led by women |
| Global rank | Third largest startup ecosystem in the world after the United States and China |
| Startup India launch | 16 January 2016 by the Government of India |
Strategic Outlook and the Way Forward
The immediate next step for both MoUs is implementation through DPIIT’s Startup India platform. Startups will be able to discover the benefits, apply through the portal and be connected to the relevant support teams at PhonePe and Shell India. Joint Secretary, DPIIT, Sanjiv Singh has noted that such collaborations help startups work on real world challenges with industry, which improves their chances of scaling. Deputy Secretary T. L. K. Singh has been involved in executing several of these MoUs, indicating a streamlined process within DPIIT for corporate partnerships.
Going ahead, the impact will depend on how broadly and efficiently the benefits are delivered. For PhonePe, the key will be how many startups actually receive meaningful gateway credits and how much visibility the Indus AppStore can generate beyond the major metros. For Shell India, the key will be follow-through on pilots and investor linkages after the initial mentorship. If both deliver at scale, the partnerships can improve unit economics for digital startups and shorten the long lab-to-market journey for climate tech startups, supporting the wider goals of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Make in India and Viksit Bharat 2047.
In the longer term, these deals point to a clear policy direction. Rather than building all support infrastructure itself, the government is using DPIIT as a hub to bring corporate capabilities into the startup ecosystem. This hub and spoke model can be replicated across health, agriculture and advanced manufacturing, provided there is transparent selection, clear outcome tracking and equal access for startups from smaller cities.
Key Takeaways
- The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) signed MoUs with PhonePe and Shell India Pvt Ltd on 19 August 2026 to support DPIIT-recognised startups.
- Under the PhonePe MoU, startups will get payment gateway transaction credits, access to the Indus AppStore, dedicated onboarding and brand visibility support.
- The Indus AppStore, launched in February 2024, hosts over 2 lakh apps, supports 12 languages and charges zero commission on in-app purchases.
- Under the Shell India MoU, energy and climate-tech startups will get mentorship and investor connect plus access to the Shell E4 Smart Energy Track.
- Shell E4 (Energizing and Enabling Energy Entrepreneurs) was launched in 2017 and is run from the Shell Technology Centre Bangalore, a 52 acre hub opened in March 2017.
- DPIIT, originally DIPP set up in 1995 and renamed in January 2019, is the nodal agency for Startup India (launched 16 January 2016) which had recognised 1,97,692 startups as of 31 October 2025.
