TDB pauses accepting applications under RDI fund amid capital constraints

TDB closes fresh RDI funding call as strong demand from deep-tech projects outpaces available capital, despite an additional ₹1,000 crore allocation taking its total to ₹3,000 crore

The Technology Development Board (TDB), a second-level fund manager under the government’s Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund, has closed its call for new proposals, even as it secured an additional ₹1,000 crore to fund a growing pipeline of deep-tech projects.

 TDB notified that its RDI call for proposals would close at 5 pm on Wednesday, September 30, “due to administrative reasons”.

 A source at the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the nodal ministry for the fund, said the decision reflects a mismatch between the strong demand for RDI funding and the capital currently available to TDB. “While TDB is seeing a strong pipeline of deep-tech projects seeking funding, the capital it has received from the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), the first-level fund manager for the RDI Fund, is not sufficient to fund the proposals coming through,” the source said.

 TDB secretary Rajesh Kumar Pathak had told Business Standard in an earlier interview that the board had projected a requirement of ₹5,000 crore to fund deep-tech projects. However, TDB and another second-level fund manager, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), initially received an allocation of ₹2,000 crore each.

 In response to a query from Business Standard, Pathak on September 28 confirmed that they received an additional ₹1,000 crore. “In view of the strong response and growing project pipeline, an additional ₹1,000 crore has since been allocated to TDB and is being utilised for the second cohort, taking the total sanctioned allocation to ₹3,000 crore,” Pathak said.

 While BIRAC is yet to commit capital to any startups, TDB has already utilised its sanctioned allocation to commit funding to 22 companies. The first cohort includes The ePlane Company (₹285 crore), Agnikul Cosmos (₹200 crore), ideaForge (₹151 crore), Tejas Networks (₹250 crore), Dhruva Space, Manastu Space and GalaxEye. TDB had opened its first call for proposals in February this year.

 Speaking about the second cohort in an interview with Business Standard earlier this month, Pathak had said the board was continuing with its evaluation process but was waiting for additional funds before signing agreements with companies.

 “We cannot enter into an agreement with a company if we don't have funds, so we are waiting for further funds. But our second cohort is already in process. Once we get the funds, we will announce that. So, we have not stopped our evaluation process. The second cohort has 13 companies, of which 11 are deep-tech startups,” Pathak said.

 Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ₹1 trillion RDI Fund to boost private sector-led research and innovation in India. Under the fund structure, money is transferred from the Consolidated Fund of India to a Special Purpose Fund (SPF) at a low interest rate for 50 years. The SPF, set up under ANRF, acts as the first-level custodian, with funds then flowing to second-level fund managers and subsequently to startups.