Atal Innovation Mission
About
- The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) was launched in 2016 by NITI Aayog to create and promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country.
- AIM’s interventions cover schools, colleges, universities, research institutions, private and MSME sector.
- Major programmes under AIM include:
- Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in schools: Through these, AIM is fostering the spirit of creativity and innovation at the school level;
- Atal Incubation Centres (AICs): These centres create a world-class ecosystem for start-ups to flourish;
- Atal Community Innovation Centres (ACICs): ACICs encourage the spirit of innovation with a focus on underserved/unserved regions of the country;
- Atal New India Challenges (ANIC): It aims to identify, fund, and mentor technology-based innovations that address critical sectoral and societal challenges;
- Mentor India: It is a voluntary initiative that invites industry leaders to guide and mentor students in the fields of technical expertise, innovation and design, inspiration or entrepreneurial in nature.
Atal Innovation Mission 2.0
- In 2024, the Union Cabinet approved the continuation of AIM till March 31, 2028.
- AIM 2.0 is designed to strengthen India’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in three ways:
- (a) by increasing input (i.e., ushering more innovators and entrepreneurs),
- (b) by improving the success rate or ‘throughput’ (i.e., helping more startups succeed) and
- (c) by improving the quality of ‘output’ (i.e., producing better jobs, products and services).