Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups

Provides credit guarantees to member lending institutions for loans extended to DPIIT-recognized startups, de-risking lender exposure. It is not direct grant money but facilitates collateral-free debt. Because CGSS works by de-risking the lender rather than disbursing to the startup, the loan terms — interest rate, tenor, amount — are ultimately set by the member bank, NBFC or AIF a startup approaches, with the guarantee cover only determining how much collateral the lender can waive. DPIIT recognition is a hard prerequisite for the guarantee to apply, which makes obtaining that recognition first a practical dependency for any startup planning to use this route for working capital or growth debt.