After TDB, BIRAC announces first call for proposals under RDI fund

Biotechnology-focused fund manager invites startup applications under Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund

Focused research organisation Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) on Friday announced the first call for proposals under the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund. The development comes a week after the Technology Development Board (TDB) also invited applications from startups in priority sectors.

 

Notably, BIRAC and TDB are two organisations that have been nominated by the government as second-level fund managers for the proposed fund. While BIRAC will oversee initiatives in biotechnology and allied domains, TDB will focus on projects spanning all sunrise and strategic sectors. The RDI Fund, worth Rs 1 lakh crore, was launched last year. 

As for the conditions, startups and companies would be eligible to apply if they are headquartered in India, with majority ownership held domestically. The fund supports projects with Technology Readiness Level 4 and above, largely including entities that have moved beyond ideation and theory. 

Jitendra Kumar, Managing Director of BIRAC, said the evaluation of applications will be completed within eight weeks of receiving the proposals, and funds will be disbursed within 12 weeks of evaluation. BIRAC has also set up an investment committee, composed of 6–8 members from industry and the investment community, which will evaluate the proposals.

 

With the announcement of the call for proposals, the organisation is expecting around 100 applications from eligible startups in the first week, out of which it is aiming to provide final approval to 15 startups.

 

BIRAC plans to invest in eligible entities through three routes, including optionally convertible preference shares (OCPS) for investments up to Rs 25 crore; partial equity share capital and the balance as OCPS for investments between Rs 25 crore and Rs 50 crore; and unsecured loans for investments above Rs 50 crore, where startups will pay 2–3 per cent annual interest.

 

While the RDI Fund provides financing up to 50 per cent of the total assessed project cost, the remaining cost should be met by the project proponent through self-financing or commercial sources.

 

As a second-level fund manager, BIRAC has received Rs 2,000 crore as part of an initial allocation from the first-level custodian, Special Purpose Fund, which is being set up under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation.

 

Apart from TDB and BIRAC, the government will finalise other fund managers in the coming months. “By the April–May timeframe, we will select a few fund managers, and then the fund managers may take another 6–8 months to actually make their investment decisions,” Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST), said in a recent press conference. DST is the nodal ministry for the fund.

 

In Budget 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman topped up the fund with a Rs 20,000 crore allocation, similar to last year’s budgetary allocation.