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Business & Entrepreneurship

Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups

The GoI established the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups with a fixed corpus to provide credit guarantees for loans extended to DPIIT recognised startups by Scheduled Commercial Banks, NBFCs, and Venture Debt Funds (VDFs) under SEBI-registered AlFs.

Authority

Central

Region

None

Status

Verified 2026

Updated

March 2026

What you get

- Provides collateral free debt funding to eligible DPIIT recognised startups by backing their loans with a government guarantee. | - Improves access to a wide range of instruments such as venture debt, working capital limits, subordinated/mezzanine debt, debentures and other fund and non fund based facilities. | - Offers high guarantee coverage of up to 85% of the amount in default for loans up to Rs. 10 crore, significantly reducing loss risk for lenders on smaller exposures. | - Provides 75% guarantee coverage of the amount in default for loan amounts above Rs. 10 crore, up to an overall cap of Rs. 20 crore per borrower. | - Lowers risk for Member Institutions (banks, NBFCs, FIs, AIF based venture debt funds), encouraging them to lend more actively to startups. | - Supports both transaction based and umbrella based guarantees, enabling individual startup loans as well as pooled venture debt portfolios to be covered. | - Offers concessional guarantee fee/commitment charge for North East units, women led startups and entities in the 27 Champion Sectors, reducing their effective cost of borrowing. | - Provides unconditional and irrevocable guarantee cover, increasing lender confidence and stability in credit flows to startups. | - Permits restructuring and enhancement of existing CGSS covered credit facilities while retaining guarantee cover, subject to the overall limit. | - Strengthens the startup ecosystem by improving formal credit availability, enabling innovative startups to scale, invest in technology and create employment.

Who can apply

The Legal Status of the applicant should be: an entity recognised as a Startup by DPIIT as per the applicable Gazette Notifications.; The Credit History of the applicant should be: not in default to any lending or investing institution and not classified as a Non Performing Asset as per RBI guidelines.; The Certification requirement of the applicant should be: its eligibility must be certified by the concerned Member Institution for the purpose of obtaining guarantee cover.; The Nature of activity of the applicant should be: engaged in eligible startup business activities as per DPIIT recognition, and continuing the activity for which the credit facility is being sought.; Any other: The applicant must comply with all other eligibility criteria and scheme conditions prescribed under the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS) from time to time.

Required Paperwork

  • Aadhaar Card
  • PAN Card
  • Income Certificate
  • Residence Proof (Domicile)