Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, while interacting with startup founders and entrepreneurs during a pre-budget consultation programme held on Wednesday in Manesar, said that young innovators and startups are giving a new direction to Haryana’s economy.
The Chief Minister said ‘National Startup Day’ was celebrated on January 16, and today’s pre-budget consultation is a continuation of that celebration. Referring to the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, “Startup India is not merely a government scheme, but a ‘Rainbow Vision’ that connects different sectors with new possibilities.”
He said a startup is an idea that needs to be given a concrete shape. It is a small seed which, with the right support, can grow into a huge tree.
The Chief Minister said with the resolve to make the country developed by the year 2047, the government is continuously working at a fast pace. He said that major and historic changes are being witnessed in the country today. Whether it is road and transport infrastructure or other developmental projects, India is moving ahead at an unprecedented speed.
Welcoming the suggestions given by startup founders, the Chief Minister said that ideas received on issues such as ‘ease of doing business’, ‘funding’, and ‘technical support’ have been noted. He said, “No matter how small an idea may be, if it has the strength and vision, it does not take long to change the world.”
The Chief Minister informed that over the past 10 years, the number of startups in the country has increased from 500 to more than 2 lakh. Haryana has played a leading role in this growth, especially Gurugram and Manesar. Haryana now has more than 9,500 startups and ranks seventh in the country in this regard. Additionally, 19 unicorns have emerged from Haryana.
Sharing details of key steps taken in the Budget 2025–26, the Chief Minister said that the future belongs to Artificial Intelligence (AI). With this vision, the Haryana Government has proposed the establishment of the ‘Haryana AI Mission’, for which an assurance of assistance of Rs. 474 crore has been received from the World Bank. Under this mission, one AI hub each will be set up in Gurugram and Panchkula, where 50,000 youth will be trained in new technologies.
He said to promote research in colleges and universities, the ‘Haryana State Research Fund’ has been established with an initial corpus of Rs 20 crore. Along with this, a ‘Fund of Funds’ of Rs. 2,000 crore has also been created.
The Chief Minister said that to encourage startups, financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh per startup is being provided through HSIIDC, and the ‘Mukhyamantri Kaushal Samman Yojana’ has been launched. The ‘Haryana State Startup Policy–2022’ is in force in the state, and recently, financial assistance of Rs 1.14 crore has been provided to 22 startups.
He said that the startup culture will no longer remain limited to big cities. From the academic session 2025–26, ‘entrepreneurship competitions’ will be organised in every district, in which selected teams will be given financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh by the government to convert their ideas into business models.
Considering Manesar as an industrial hub, the Chief Minister said that ‘incubation centres’ will be established in all industrial estates of HSIIDC so that startups can be provided workspaces at affordable rates. For this purpose, land has already been identified by HSIIDC in three IMT areas.
The Chief Minister expressed pride that more than 50 per cent of startups in Haryana have at least one woman director, and the government is committed to supporting women entrepreneurs at every step. He said that startups and young innovators working in different sectors across the country are the identity of New India.
The Chief Minister made two requests to everyone—first, to send their suggestions through the Chatbot within the next 8 to 10 days; and second, to listen to the Budget 2026–27 when it is presented in the Legislative Assembly.
He said those whose suggestions are included in the budget will be sent special invitations to witness the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly, so that they can personally see that the government has honoured their suggestions.