Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry (BHASKAR)

Back to Atlas

A free Indian government digital platform that creates a centralised registry of all startup ecosystem stakeholders, assigning each a unique identifier to enable personalised networking, resource access, and ecosystem analytics.
What are the main aims and objectives?

The Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry (BHASKAR) aims to address a structural fragmentation problem at the heart of India's startup ecosystem: despite India being home to the world's third largest startup ecosystem with over 146,000 Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)-recognised startups, critical data and connections between stakeholders remained siloed across ministries, agencies, and geographies, with no single platform connecting them. BHASKAR seeks to eliminate these silos by building what the government describes as the world's largest digital registry of startup ecosystem participants — spanning startups, investors, mentors, incubators, accelerators, academic institutions, service providers, and government bodies — and assigning each a unique BHASKAR ID to enable targeted, personalised interaction. Beyond connectivity, the platform aims to improve the visibility of startups outside India's three dominant hubs (Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru), recognising that approximately 50% of Indian startups are now based in Tier II and III cities where access to investors and mentors is structurally weakest. The platform also aims to provide ecosystem analytics at micro and macro levels, enabling policymakers to monitor connectivity, identify underserved areas, and direct resources more efficiently. The programme sits within the wider Startup India initiative, launched in 2016 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which has set an ambition of reaching five million (50 lakh) startups nationally.

How does the program work?

BHASKAR operates as a multi-stakeholder digital registry built on the existing Startup India portal infrastructure, managed by DPIIT. Registration is free of charge for all users.​

Registration and BHASKAR ID issuance. Every participant must register through the Startup India portal and is assigned a unique BHASKAR ID upon enrolment. Users are categorised based on their role in the ecosystem — startup, investor, mentor, incubator, accelerator, academic institution, government body, or aspiring entrepreneur. A further distinction is made between individuals "aspiring to be engaged in a business activity" and those already "engaged in a business activity working towards innovation or scalability." This prevents data duplication and allows the platform to tailor the experience to each user's stage and role (Startup India portal).

Personalised networking and discoverability. Advanced search functionality allows stakeholders to find relevant collaborators, investors, or mentors based on sector, business stage, geography, and other parameters. This is specifically designed to surface startups from underrepresented regions and demographics that traditional networking routes tend to bypass (Inc42, September 2024).​

Centralised scheme and resource access. Startups can access information about all active Startup India schemes directly through the platform. Microsites for individual government support schemes are being progressively integrated into BHASKAR as part of the pilot phase (PIB, August 2025).​

Ecosystem analytics. The platform generates quantitative data on stakeholder interactions, ecosystem connectivity, and geographic distribution of activity. This is intended to allow both DPIIT and external observers to identify where the ecosystem is underconnected and allocate support accordingly.​

Peer-to-peer collaboration features. Functions enabling direct partnerships, knowledge sharing, and collaborative engagements between stakeholders were still being tested in the pilot phase as of mid-2025.​

As of 30 June 2025, BHASKAR remained in a pilot phase. Outreach to drive registrations had been conducted in partnership with State and Union Territory Startup Nodal Agencies, incubators, accelerators, colleges, and universities across India.

What is the overall cost?

The specific budget allocated to building and operating BHASKAR has not been publicly disclosed by DPIIT or the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in any accessible source.

How was it implemented?

BHASKAR was first publicly announced by Piyush Goyal, then Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, at the Startup Mahakumbh event in March 2024. The conceptual rationale for the platform was articulated by Sanjiv, Joint Secretary at DPIIT, who stated that he identified a need for a single platform to connect all ecosystem stakeholders after observing that the Startup India recognition system captured data on startups but had no mechanism for connecting them with each other or with support providers.​

Rather than building a wholly new institutional structure, DPIIT chose to develop BHASKAR as an integrated layer on top of the existing Startup India portal — which had been operational since January 2016 and already held over 600,000 registered users. This architectural decision allowed BHASKAR to inherit the existing user base and recognition database while adding new networking, analytics, and search functionality.

The platform was formally launched on 16 September 2024 at an event presided over by Minister Goyal, with participation from startup ecosystem stakeholders across India. At launch, Goyal noted that India had 143,000 (1.43 lakh) DPIIT-recognised startups, with confirmed employment of over 1.5 million people, and announced the government's ambition to scale the total to five million (50 lakh) startups.​

Following the formal launch, DPIIT moved the platform into a structured pilot phase, collecting user feedback through State Startup Nodal Agencies and institutional partners before committing to a full rollout.​

Key milestones:

  • January 2016: Startup India programme launched under Prime Minister Modi, creating the foundational digital registry infrastructure​
  • March 2024: BHASKAR announced by Minister Goyal at Startup Mahakumbh​
  • 15 September 2024: Official government pre-launch press release issued by DPIIT (PIB, September 2024)​
  • 16 September 2024: BHASKAR formally launched
  • 1 August 2025: Minister of State Jitin Prasada confirms 197,932 startup registrations in parliamentary reply; platform confirmed still in pilot phase (PIB, August 2025)
What impact has been measured?

As of August 2025, BHASKAR remained in pilot phase.

Participation and Activity

  • 197,932 entities registered under the 'startup' category on BHASKAR as of 30 June 2025, confirmed in a written reply by Minister of State Jitin Prasada to the Rajya Sabha on 1 August 2025 (PIB, August 2025)​
  • The five states with the highest startup registrations were: Maharashtra (33,845), Uttar Pradesh (19,382), Karnataka (20,004), Delhi (18,972), and Gujarat (17,370)​
  • Outreach conducted with all State and Union Territory Startup Nodal Agencies, as well as incubators, accelerators, colleges, and universities nationwide
What lessons can be learned?
  • The pilot phase has lasted longer than anticipated with no published timeline for full deployment. BHASKAR launched on 16 September 2024 and was still described as being in "pilot phase" in a parliamentary response dated 1 August 2025 — nearly a year later. No official timeline for completing the pilot and moving to full launch has been made public, and core features including peer-to-peer collaboration remain untested (PIB, August 2025).​
  • Registration figures cannot be equated with active engagement. The 197,932 startup registrations headline figure represents sign-ups, not verified active users. The Startup India portal already held over 600,000 registered users before BHASKAR launched — suggesting a meaningful proportion of BHASKAR registrations may be passive carry-overs rather than active new participants. No monthly active user data, interaction rates, or network density metrics have been published.
  • The geographic inclusion objective is not yet evidenced in the data. BHASKAR was explicitly designed to improve visibility for Tier II and III city startups. The five highest-registering states are all established startup hubs (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat), and no data disaggregated by city tier has been published. It is not yet possible to assess whether the platform is succeeding in democratising ecosystem access.
  • The rationale for creating a new platform rather than upgrading the existing Startup India portal has not been publicly explained. India already had a recognised startup portal with hundreds of thousands of users. Creating BHASKAR as a partially separate system raises questions about duplication of digital infrastructure and user confusion — questions that DPIIT has not publicly addressed.
  • BHASKAR addresses connectivity but not the capital access gap it inherits. Academic analysis of Startup India notes that the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) had reached only 1.1% of recognised startups four years after launch, with only 31% of its corpus committed. Improving networking discoverability through BHASKAR does not resolve the underlying investor engagement problem — and this limitation is absent from official communications about the platform.​

CURATED BY

Tom Hancock

Research Associate
Global Entrepreneurship Network
United Kingdom