The energy sector in India is facing significant challenges due to the shortage of fossil fuel, rising emissions, and a large gap between the power demand and its supply. These problems stem from factors such as large population growth and escalating needs of the industrial expansion strain. Therefore, alternative energy developments are essential to tackle these issues effectively. In that scenario, the small-scale Darrieus-type straight-bladed vertical-axis wind turbine (SB-VAWT) has great potential to withdraw clean and eco-friendly energy from the wind streams to provide energy in the built environment. The main emphasis of the current work is to enhance the starting characteristics and the aerodynamic performance of small-scale Darrieus-type SB-VAWT with a drag plus lift-based blade. The drag plus lift-based blade profile is created by removing some portion from the upper surface of the conventional blade profile toward its trailing edge. The drag plus lift-based blade is experimented in a subsonic wind tunnel and their results are compared with a conventional blade design. An improvement of 20–30% is obtained in power and torque coefficient results when employing the drag plus lift-based blade in a Darrieus-type SB-VAWT.