Annal Ambedkar Business Champions Scheme — ₹52.5L SC/ST Grant, Tamil Nadu — Frequently Asked Questions

The support comes as a 35% capital subsidy on your eligible project cost. The subsidy is capped at ₹1.5 Crore, which works out to a grant of up to ₹52.5 lakh per enterprise. On top of that, you get a 6% interest subvention on the loan you take for machinery and equipment.

You must be a resident of Tamil Nadu and belong to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community, and the enterprise has to be 100% owned by SC/ST individuals. There is an age limit of 55 years for the beneficiary, and no minimum educational qualification is required.

Manufacturing, services and eligible trading activities are all covered. The scheme is open both to founders setting up a new enterprise and to existing businesses that want to expand.

No. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, so the window is always open and you can file your application whenever your project is ready.

No. AABCS is a subsidy and interest subvention programme, not an equity investor. The support is non-dilutive — the government does not take a share of your company in return.

Yes. The capital subsidy can be utilised upfront to meet the margin money requirement for credit linkage, which helps if a lender expects you to bring in your own contribution first.

Loans sanctioned by scheduled commercial banks, co-operative banks, Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation and NBFCs are covered. The subvention applies for the loan tenure, up to a maximum of 10 years, and for working capital for up to 2 years.

Every beneficiary gets entrepreneurship development training delivered by the Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Institute (EDII), covering the business skills needed to run and scale the enterprise.

Applications are filed online on the official portal of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Department, Government of Tamil Nadu. Register with your details, log in, complete the application form, upload the necessary supporting documents and submit. The department's "Dos and Don'ts While Filing Online Application" document is a useful guide to follow while filling the form.

Registration asks for your name, date of birth, email ID, Aadhaar number and mobile number. Once your registration is successful, you log in with those credentials and proceed to fill in the mandatory fields of the application form.

No. DPIIT (Startup India) recognition is not listed as a mandatory requirement for Annal Ambedkar Business Champions Scheme — ₹52.5L SC/ST Grant, Tamil Nadu, though having it can strengthen your application and unlock other benefits.

Annal Ambedkar Business Champions Scheme — ₹52.5L SC/ST Grant, Tamil Nadu is offered by Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, a government body. It is provided as non-dilutive funding.