DARPAN portal

The Indian government works with a very large number of non-profits. Before it can fund any of them, it needs a reliable way to know who they are.

DARPAN is that record. NITI Aayog runs it as a national database of NPOs.

The workbook is direct about why an NPO should care: "NPOs seeking government funding must register on the DARPAN portal." Without registration, an NPO is effectively invisible to government grant-making, however good its work is.

DARPAN is one of five bodies and mechanisms the workbook lists as forming the legal and regulatory backdrop of the NPO sector — alongside state Trust Acts, the Societies Registration Act, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (for Section 8 companies) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (for FCRA).

The workbook places DARPAN inside its list of five regulatory touchpoints for India's NPO sector:

DARPAN's role is narrow and specific: it is a database, not a tax authority and not a funding body in its own right. It does not itself decide whether an NPO gets a grant — it is the record an NPO must appear on before it can even be considered for most government funding streams.

Figures below are illustrative except where the workbook gives them.

Jeevan Rural Development Society wants to apply for a central government livelihoods grant of ₹35 lakh. Before it can even submit the application, the scheme guidelines require a valid DARPAN registration ID.

Jeevan Society is already registered as a trust with its state's Charity Commissioner, holds a valid 12A tax-exemption certificate and an 80G registration for donor deductions — but none of those substitute for DARPAN registration, because DARPAN is a separate database run by a different body, NITI Aayog, for a different purpose.

Once it registers on DARPAN and receives its unique ID, Jeevan Society can list the ID in its grant application. Its trust registration, 12A and 80G status remain unaffected either way — DARPAN adds a requirement on top of them, it does not replace any of them.

Chapter 1 (Introduction to Social Sector Ecosystem), section on the NPO sector's legal framework, lists DARPAN as the fifth of five regulatory touchpoints, run by NITI Aayog. Expect a question asking which body maintains DARPAN (NITI Aayog) and what registering on it is a precondition for (government funding).

• DARPAN is run by NITI Aayog, not by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Income Tax Department — each of those regulates a different aspect of an NPO's existence, and DARPAN is the odd one out as a pure database.
• DARPAN registration is about eligibility for government funding, not about tax status. An NPO can hold valid 12A and 80G registrations without ever appearing on DARPAN, but it then cannot access most government grants.
• DARPAN is not part of the Social Stock Exchange's own registration process. An NPO registers separately with an SSE under Chapter 3's criteria; DARPAN is a distinct, government-funding-focused database referenced only in Chapter 1's ecosystem overview.
• Do not confuse DARPAN with the Aspirational Districts Programme, a district-ranking scheme, also run by NITI Aayog but serving an entirely different purpose.