§1Policies

§2Incentive pattern

Capital subsidyMicro & small 40% (max ₹40 lakh); medium & large 35% (max ₹35 lakh); women/SC/ST 45% (max ₹75 lakh)

On land, building, plant & machinery; investments on or after 1 Apr 2017. Second-hand machinery and used buildings not eligible.

G.O. Ms. No. 2/Ind.&Com./A6/2017 (Gazette of Puducherry, 6 Jun 2017)
Interest subsidy25% of annual interest paid, max ₹5 lakh a year; 5 years (Puducherry, Karaikal) / 7 years (Mahe, Yanam)

On loans for fixed assets and working capital; from commercial production.

G.O. Ms. No. 4/Ind.&Com./A6/2017
Employment20% of wage/salary of PF-covered workers, max ₹5 lakh a year; 5 years (7 in Mahe, Yanam)

Only if at least 10 direct employees and 60% employment to people of the UT.

G.O. Ms. No. 4/Ind.&Com./A6/2017
Stamp duty100% reimbursement of stamp duty on purchase/lease/mortgage of land and/or buildings for new industries

Notification No. 3407/DI&C/T8/Stamp duty/2023-24 dated 25 Aug 2025 invited claims for transactions registered on or after 4 Jun 2018; last date was 10 Oct 2025.

Reimbursement of stamp duty - Notification (English), Directorate of Industries & Commerce
Patent & qualityQuality certification 50% (max ₹2 lakh, up to 3 certifications); patents 50% (max ₹2 lakh domestic / ₹5 lakh international)G.O. Ms. No. 4/Ind.&Com./A6/2017
OtherGenerator 50% (max ₹5 lakh); pollution control equipment 25% (max ₹5 lakh); technology acquisition 50% (max ₹10 lakh); IT building 30% (max ₹1 crore); trade fair 50% (max ₹5 lakh); energy/water audit 50% (max ₹25,000)G.O. Ms. No. 2 and 4/Ind.&Com./A6/2017

§3State schemes

More incentives in the policy (17)

Name and benefit are from the policy; the full conditions are not on this page yet — see the policy document.

  • Infrastructure Development Subsidy (IT/ITES)30% of building investment (min 50,000 sq ft), max ₹1 crore, paid max ₹25 lakh a year
  • Subsidy to Pollution Control Equipment25%, max ₹5 lakh
  • Assistance for Technology Acquisition50% grant, max ₹10 lakh (not for machinery)
  • Generator Subsidy50%, max ₹5 lakh per unit, new generators bought on/after 1 Apr 2017
  • Subsidy for Quality Certification50% of cost, max ₹2 lakh per unit, up to 3 certifications (QCI-approved agencies); renewals not covered
  • Assistance for Intellectual Property Protection50%, max ₹2 lakh domestic / ₹5 lakh international patent; apply within 1 year of publication
  • Market Development Support Assistance50% of rent, literature, display for international trade fair (as industry association), max ₹5 lakh; prior approval needed
  • Assistance for Energy and Water Conservation50% of audit fee, max ₹25,000, if saving is at least 10%
  • Thrust Area / SC-ST-Women / Karaikal 5% additional capital subsidy, Rent subsidy, Infrastructure subsidy (2012 GO components)Rates under G.O. Ms. No. 2/2012; apply only to investments made before 1 Apr 2017
  • Startup Policy 2019 - Startup grant and monthly allowanceGrant up to ₹3 lakh; ₹10,000/month per person for up to 5 persons (₹15,000 for women/SC/PH/transgender founders); ₹10 crore Puducherry Startup Fund (policy period 2019-2024)
  • MSME Awards (Outstanding Entrepreneur / Exporter / SC-ST Entrepreneur / Artisan / Innovation / Green measures)Awards under the Motivation of Entrepreneurs scheme; amounts not checked
  • PIPDIC loan schemes (Single Window Scheme, SSI/MSI scheme, hotel and restaurant projects, women entrepreneurs Mahila Udyam Nidhi, SC/ST entrepreneurs, cold storage, equipment refinance, ISO 9000 refinance, TUFS)Term loans from the UT's state financial corporation; terms not checked
  • Grant of Financial Incentives for Hotels, Resorts and Tourism ProjectsTourism department incentive; terms not checked
  • Fisheries: Grant of subsidy for setting up ice plant / cold storage / fish processing unit; mobile sea food van; boat subsidiesFisheries department subsidies; terms not checked
  • Motivation of Unemployed Persons to Start Self-Employed EnterprisesSelf-employment support; terms not checked
  • Development of Coir / Silk / Handicrafts (margin money, raw-material subsidy, training, exhibitions)Artisan support components; terms not checked
  • PMEGP (KVIC / DIC) and PMFME - central schemesImplemented through DIC Puducherry

§4District zones

In many states the subsidy rate changes with the zone of the district or block.

ZoneMahe and Yanam regions

Interest subsidy and employment incentive for 7 years instead of 5

Mahe · Yanam

G.O. Ms. No. 4/Ind.&Com./A6/2017
ZonePuducherry and Karaikal regions

Interest subsidy and employment incentive for 5 years

Puducherry · Karaikal

G.O. Ms. No. 4/Ind.&Com./A6/2017

Schemes for some districts only

  • 5% additional capital investment subsidy for Karaikal region (2012 GO; pre-1 Apr 2017 investments)Karaikal

→Industrial land in this stateAgency, portal, allotment, lease

§5Famous for

§6Choose your district

For each district: its ODOP product, its subsidy zone and the schemes that run only there.

§7Focus sectors & ODOP

Thrust areas named in the 2012 GO: electronics, biotechnology, food and agro processing incl. marine products, leather and footwear, light engineering incl. auto components, textiles and garmentsIT/ITES (dedicated infrastructure subsidy)

ODOP / clusters2 entries

Puducherry district: Terracotta and Papier Mache

  • Puducherry district: Terracotta and Papier Mache
  • Karaikal district: Dry Fish; Chemicals & allied products

§8Why do business here — and why not

Merits

  • Capital subsidy counts land and goes up to ₹75 lakh for women/SC/ST owners (GO 2/2017)
  • Subsidies are actually being sanctioned: capital and interest subsidy orders dated 9 Jan 2025 (py.gov.in G.O.Rt. 14, 15, 16)
  • Separate toll-free helplines per region (Puducherry 1800 425 1082, Karaikal 1083, Mahe 1084, Yanam 1085) printed on the department site

Demerits

  • Payouts depend on budget and may come in instalments (GO 2/2017 para 5.6)
  • 60% local-employment condition on every incentive (GO 2/2017 procedure vi)
  • Policy 2016 and the subsidy page were last updated 2020-2021; the startup policy period (2019-2024) has lapsed with no new policy found

Still being researched

We could not confirm these points from an official source, so no figure is printed on the page.

Open items5 points pending
  • Industrial Policy 2016 text is a scanned 61-page PDF; its period and full scheme list were — see the official guideline. (OCR failed on low disk space)
  • Sanction order for 26 units (₹6,58,50,775, 9 Jan 2025) seen only in a search snippet; PDF not opened
  • py-stamp-duty-reimbursement: documents not published in the notification
  • ODOP products for Mahe and Yanam not listed on the department ODOP page
  • Rates of PIPDIC loan schemes, tourism incentive and fisheries subsidies not checked