India has cleared a $1.1 billion state-backed venture capital program that will channel government money into startups through private investors, doubling down on its effort to finance high-risk areas such as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and other sectors broadly referred to by the industry as deep tech. First outlined in the January 2025 budget speech by India’s finance minister, the ₹100 billion fund won cabinet approval this week (more than a year after the speech),