The Indian Government has allocated a total of Rs 260 crore under the TDF Scheme (Technology Development Fund Scheme), since its inception from 2016.
Further, Rs 64.35 crore has been disbursed as a grant-in-aid to industries for development of defence technologies.
Noteworthy, the Government provides support to the private industries especially MSMEs and start-ups through TDF Scheme.
And, as of now a total of 41 MSMEs and 20 start-ups have been supported under the Technology Development Fund Scheme (TDF) Scheme.
Also, the Scheme has adopted a flexible funding approach for applicants to encourage participation.
Hence, two types of funding mechanisms available under the scheme are given below:
- Reimbursement: The DRDO share of project cost is paid in a maximum of five (05) instalments in the form of reimbursement upon successful achievement of milestones.
- Advance: A staggered approach towards project funding in this scheme is in the form of advance funding subject to a maximum of five (05) “Milestones” of the project. Development Agency (DA) may avail an advance upon producing a Bank Guarantee of the same amount as collateral.
About TDF Scheme
Technology Development Fund Scheme is a program of Ministry of Defence (MoD) executed by DRDO under “Make-in-India” initiative.
The Government has approved TDF Scheme to encourage participation of public/private industries especially MSMEs and start-ups to design and develop various defence technologies indigenously.
A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the scheme has been formulated and approved by Competent Authority in 2016.
The SOP describes about the evaluation and assessment criteria.
Source: https://pib.gov.in/
