From Relaxation to Restriction: How the 2025 Procurement Manual Shut Startups Out ,PM’s Startup Vision Blocked by Procurement Manual’s 20% Cap

 Despite years of policy announcements, not a single DPIIT-recognized Startup consultancy firm has ever been engaged in Railways, Highways, or other major ministries under procurement relaxations.

This failure is not by accident, but by design. •Earlier manuals had full relaxation. •The 2025 Procurement Manual added a “20% cap” — effectively restricting Startups instead of enabling them. •Procuring entities then layer on ATC/SCC backdoor conditions, making participation impossible. The wording of Clause 7.3.3-6 itself raises doubts about intent — instead of easing access, it institutionalises barriers.
The result is clear: zero participation, zero awards, zero nation-building.

Policy vs. Practice: Why No Startup Has Been Engaged Under Procurement Relaxation 1.“A policy meant to empower first-generation entrepreneurs now restricts them with a 20% cap.” 2.“The PM’s Startup Mission promised opportunity, but Procurement Manual 2025 delivers exclusion.” 3.“Relaxation on paper, rejection in practice — that’s the story of DPIIT Startups today.” 4.“From enabling innovation to enforcing filters — the Startup clause is broken.” 5.“Not a single Startup consultancy engaged. The numbers tell the story of barriers, not support.” 6.“When words of reform become tools of restriction, the vision of Startup India is betrayed.

When People are aware that Startup relaxations exist. But the 20% cap makes the facility meaningless in practice. A reform meant to empower Startups has turned into a mechanism to filter them out. The corrective step is simple: restore 100% unconditional relaxation — as originally intended.

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