Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), is a

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

’s initiative under

NITI Aayog The NITI Aayog (; abbreviation for National Institution for Transforming India) serves as the apex public policy think tank of the Government of the Republic of India, and the nodal agency tasked with catalyzing economic development, and foste ...

to promote a innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. It was setup in 2016. The initiative focuses on creation of a problem-solving and innovative mindset in school students. It also seeks to create an ecosystem of entrepreneurship in universities, research institutions, private and MSME sector.

Backgroud

The Atal Innovation Mission was launched to revolutionize India's entrepreneurial ecosystem by developing new policies and programs to foster innovation across various sectors of the economy. AIM acts as an umbrella structure, providing platforms and collaboration opportunities for stakeholders in the entrepreneurial space.

AIM Programs

Atal Tinkering Labs

Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs), under AIM, function at school level. Their objective is to promote creativity, curiosity, and imagination among the young students. It focuses on inculcating skills such as design mindset, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing etc. The program is suitable students between 6th to 12th standards. It includes hands-on learning of modern tools and technologies such as

Internet of things Internet of things (IoT) describes devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communication networks. The IoT encompasse ...

3D printing 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...

, rapid prototyping tools, robotics, miniaturized electronics,

do-it-yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi- ...

kits, etc. In 2025, AIM has established 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs in schools in 35 states and union territories of the country. These span across 722 districts and mentor more than 1.1 crore students Atal Incubation Centres.

Atal Incubation Centres

In addition to ATLs, AIM also creates Atal Incubation Centres (AICs).These AICs act as business incubators and are established at universities, institutions and corporates. They promote world-class innovation by supporting entrepreneurs in building scalable and sustainable enterprises. In 2025, there are 72 AICs operational across India. These AICs provide various services to the stratups such as technical facilities, mentorship, resource-based support, funding support, co-working spaces, partnerships and networking, etc. More than 3500 startups have been incubated at such AICs which have contributed to the economy by creating more than 32000 jobs. More than 1,000 startups incubated at these AICs have a women leader or founder. Startups incubated at AICs come from diverse areas such as Healthteach, Fintech, Space and Drone Tech, EdTech, AR/VR, Tourism, Food Processing, etc.

References

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