National Scholarship Portal
Complete Guide for Students

The National Scholarship Portal (NSP) at scholarships.gov.in is a unified digital platform launched by the Government of India as part of the Digital India initiative. It serves as a single window for students to apply for central government scholarships, as well as state government scholarships that have been integrated onto the platform. NSP handles the entire scholarship lifecycle — registration, application, institute verification, state verification, and direct benefit transfer (DBT) of scholarship money into the student's Aadhaar-linked bank account. Over 140 scholarship schemes from multiple central ministries and state governments are hosted on NSP.

NSP scholarships have different eligibility criteria depending on the scheme. In general, Indian citizens studying in recognised schools, colleges, or universities are the target group. Most central schemes are specifically designed for students from Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), Economically Backward Classes (EBC), De-notified Tribes (DNT), and the six notified minority communities (Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, Jain). The Central Sector Scheme of Scholarships (CSSS) is open to all categories for top Class 12 performers. Students from Class 1 (for some minority pre-matric schemes) up to doctoral level are eligible, depending on the specific scheme.

The core documents required for almost every NSP scheme are: (1) Aadhaar card, (2) bank passbook for an Aadhaar-seeded account in the student's name, (3) income certificate from a competent authority, (4) community/caste/minority certificate as applicable, (5) bonafide or enrolment certificate from the current institution, (6) previous year's marksheet or passing certificate. Additional documents vary by scheme — for example, PMSS-CAPF requires a parent's service certificate, and CSSS requires proof of top 20 percentile board performance. Check the specific scheme's documents section for a complete list.

No — NSP enforces a "one scholarship per student" rule for most scheme combinations. A student cannot hold two central pre-matric scholarships simultaneously, nor two central post-matric scholarships at the same time. However, it is possible to hold one state-level scholarship and one central scholarship concurrently if the state scheme permits it — this varies by state. NSP has backend checks that flag duplicate applications, and students caught claiming more than one qualifying scholarship may face recovery of funds already disbursed. Always disclose any existing scholarships in your NSP application.

Income limits vary by scheme: the Pre-Matric Minority scholarship has the strictest limit at ₹1 lakh per year; most SC/ST, OBC, and minority post-matric schemes have a limit of ₹2–₹2.5 lakh per year; the Merit-cum-Means minority scholarship allows up to ₹2.5 lakh; the Central Sector Scheme (CSSS) has a much higher limit of ₹8 lakh per year; and the PMSS-CAPF has no income limit at all. The income figure used is annual family income from all sources, not just salary, and must be certified by a competent authority (Tehsildar or equivalent) — self-declarations are not accepted.