How does an entity apply for DPIIT recognition?
An eligible entity applies for DPIIT recognition on the Startup India portal after it exists as a private company, a limited liability partnership, or a registered partnership. The application carries the incorporation or registration certificate and a note of the innovation or the scalable model. The application itself has no government fee.
What has to exist first?
The entity is formed under its own Act before the recognition form is filled. Who meets the age, turnover, and innovation tests is on the eligibility page. A proprietorship and a public company are outside that definition. An entity formed by splitting up or reconstructing an existing business is also outside it.
What is filed?
The authorised person creates a login on the Startup India portal, chooses the form of the entity, and submits the certificate and the note of what the entity is building. The form includes a declaration that the entity was not formed by splitting up or reconstructing an existing business. A pitch deck, a website, an investor letter, and an intellectual-property registration are not conditions of recognition. An incubator letter is not a condition either.
DPIIT issues a recognition number if it accepts the application. This page does not promise a number of working days. What the scheme is for is on the scheme page.
What does the certificate not do?
Recognition is not incorporation, and it is not Udyam registration. The income-tax deduction under section 80-IAC still needs a separate approval, and it is for three consecutive years where that section allows it. A share issued on or after 1 April 2025 is outside the angel-tax clause in section 56(2)(viib). That change is the statute. It is not a benefit the certificate has to unlock. The earlier position is on the angel tax page.
Frequently asked questions
Four questions cover the fee, a pitch deck, a public company, and the tax holiday.
Is there a government fee?
No. The recognition application itself does not carry a government fee.
Is a pitch deck a condition?
No. The application is the certificate of incorporation or registration and a note of the innovation or the scalable model. A pitch deck, a website, and an intellectual-property certificate are not conditions of the definition.
Can a public company apply?
No. Recognition is for a private company, a limited liability partnership, or a registered partnership. A public company and a proprietorship are outside it.
Does the certificate approve the tax holiday?
No. Section 80-IAC needs the recognition and a separate approval. Recognition alone is not that approval.
Sources
Recognition is an application to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. Who qualifies is a separate page. The tax holiday is section 80-IAC.