About

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) is the nodal Ministry for policy, planning and coordination of programmes for the socio-economic development and welfare of Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities across India. Towards fostering entrepreneurship and enhancement of livelihood amongst the Scheduled Tribes, the Ministry administers the Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Tribes (VCF-ST), a Central Sector Scheme, and has been undertaking a series of dedicated activities, workshops, challenges and conclaves in furtherance of this objective.

The scheme implementation experience has highlighted persistent gaps in access to institutional credit, structured mentorship, market linkages and enterprise-development support, which constrain the entrepreneurial potential of ST entrepreneurs. Scheduled Tribe communities hold significant, and largely untapped, entrepreneurial potential, which the right ecosystem of mentorship, incubation and finance can help realise. A dedicated, incubation-led intervention is therefore essential to bridge these gaps and to enable ST entrepreneurs to build fund-ready, sustainable and scalable enterprises.

In furtherance of this objective, MoTA has formalised institutional partnerships with ten recognised and distinguished State Startup Hubs and Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) from across the country, through the signing and exchange of Memoranda of Understanding. The MoUs establish a framework of cooperation to identify, incubate, mentor and support ST-led startups and enterprises, and to facilitate their readiness for funding under the VCF-ST / PMJGF Scheme. The programme also includes a brief presentation by each participating organisation.

Across the ten partner incubators, State missions and agencies engaged under these MoUs, the initiative is projected to undertake outreach and awareness among approximately 1,000 ST entrepreneurs, and to further assess, handhold and support them in developing proposals, with the objective of ensuring that a minimum of 100 ST entrepreneurs are funded and incubated under the applicable scheme provisions.