Scholarships Open in India Right Now: Current Opportunities and Deadlines

This article lists scholarship application windows that were open, or closing soon, as of the verification date stated below. It is a status snapshot, not a permanent list. Deadlines, eligibility rules, and amounts change frequently and are set by each scheme's own authority, not by Shiksha Nation. Always confirm current status on the official portal linked for each entry before applying.

As of September 29, 2026, several scholarships in India have genuinely open application windows: the National Scholarship Portal's central schemes, most state NMMS applications, Reliance Foundation's undergraduate scholarships, Delhi University's Financial Support Scheme, and the UnlockX Scholarship Test. A few of these close within the next two to three weeks, so check the status column below before assuming you have time. This page is a snapshot, not a permanent record, and it will need to be rechecked or updated once these windows close.

Currently open scholarships

Government scholarships open now

The National Scholarship Portal is the single entry point for most central government schemes, and registration for the 2026-27 cycle opened on June 1, 2026. Most central schemes, including several routed through AICTE, UGC, and ICAR, are open until October 31, 2026, though a smaller group of schemes, including the Pre-Matric Scholarship for Students with Disabilities and certain PM-USP renewals, have an earlier deadline of September 30, 2026, essentially right now.

To apply through NSP, you'll generally need a valid Aadhaar number, an Aadhaar-linked mobile number, and a bank account seeded with NPCI. Missing any one of these typically blocks submission, so it's worth checking this before you start filling in the rest of the form.

For a full explanation of how income and category-based government scholarships work and which ones offer full fee waivers, see the dedicated guide on getting a 100% scholarship in India rather than this snapshot.

NMMS: open in most states right now, but not all

NMMS applications are state-administered, so the window depends on where you live, not on a single national date. As of late September 2026:

• Karnataka: open since September 23, closes October 30
• Maharashtra: open since September 8, closes October 7
• Andhra Pradesh: open since September 11, closes October 12
• Delhi: open since September 9, closes October 5
• Himachal Pradesh: closed September 21, already past
• Chandigarh and Kerala: close September 30, essentially today or tomorrow

If your state isn't listed here, check your state's SCERT or education department website directly, since state windows shift independently of each other and this list can't stay current for all states at once.

Private scholarships open now

Reliance Foundation's Undergraduate Scholarships for 2026-27 are currently open, covering up to ₹2 lakh over a degree program for first-year undergraduates with household income under ₹15 lakh. The application closes October 5, 2026.

HDFC Bank's Parivartan Educational Crisis Scholarship Support runs in multiple cycles across the year rather than a single annual window, covering students from Class 1 through postgraduate study who are facing a financial crisis. Because CSR programs like this open and close cycles without a fixed annual calendar, confirm the current cycle's exact status directly on HDFC's program page before assuming it's open.

Other private and CSR-funded scholarships (from foundations such as Tata Trusts) also run through the year, but their windows vary by specific scheme rather than following one shared timeline, so a general "private scholarships in India" search is less reliable here than checking each foundation's own page directly.

UnlockX Scholarship Test: open now, closing October 14

The UnlockX Scholarship Test, run by Shiksha Nation, is currently accepting registrations. It's open to Classes 5-12, including separate papers for Class 11-12 JEE and NEET aspirants, and is completely free and fully online from home.

Registration opened September 5 and closes October 14, 2026, with the test window running October 8 to 14 (students pick their own test date and time), and results declared October 17. Your scholarship percentage matches your score percentage exactly, from a 40% qualifying floor up to 100% for a perfect score, applied to Shiksha Nation's full-year live courses. Registered students get a free prep pack (sample paper, videos, and memory maps matched to their class and stream) through the Shiksha Nation app.

Because this window closes soon, it's one of the more time-sensitive entries on this page if you're a Class 5-12 student considering it.

How to find scholarships that are open after this list goes stale

Since scholarship windows open and close throughout the year, treat this page as a snapshot rather than a permanent source. To find what's currently open beyond this list:

1. Check the National Scholarship Portal first. Most central government schemes route through it, and it shows live application status rather than a fixed annual date.
2. Check your state's SCERT or education department site for state-run schemes like NMMS, since these dates don't appear reliably on national aggregator sites.
3. Check individual foundation or CSR program pages directly (Reliance Foundation, HDFC, Tata Trusts) rather than relying on secondary listicles, since private scholarships run their own cycles.
4. Check university financial aid pages directly if you're already enrolled or applying, since schemes like DU's FSS are specific to that institution.
5. For score-linked options like UnlockX, check the official Shiksha Nation page for the current cycle's dates, since these run on their own annual or bi-annual schedule rather than the government academic calendar.

For a broader comparison of scholarship exams by difficulty and format, or a full explanation of how 100% scholarships work, see the dedicated guides on those topics rather than this status page, which is intentionally kept short and current rather than exhaustive.