Deadline: 15-Jul-21
Applications are now open for the India Spain Programme of Co- operation on Industrial Research and Development 2021 to promote new areas of science & technology (S&T) and to play the role of a nodal department for organising, coordinating and promoting S&T activities in the country.
Within the frame of the India-Spain S&T Agreement, the Department of Science and Technology (Ministry of Science and Technology, India) and the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (Secretariat of State for Research, Development and Innovation, Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spain) signed on January 30th 2013, a Programme of Cooperation in order to develop a joint mechanism to promote and fund innovation-driven research and technology development between S&T stakeholders of both countries as well as to encourage partnerships and business-led R&D&I projects in areas of mutual interest. Companies and other R&D-performing organisations may seek support for joint India-Spain R&D projects and other activities intended to generate new or expanded research and technology-based partnerships between the two countries.
Focus Areas
Any collaborative Research & Development project, based on merit that include science and technology (S&T) development leading to commercial success, social good and benefit to both countries. There is however a specific focus on the following technology áreas:
- Clean Tech (Renewables, Water, and Environmental): Economically competitive production processes and products, critical materials and/or energy that reduce, replace and/or reuse resources and/or aim for sustainability and environmentally friendly processes and/or technologies. Also including Drinking Water, Water Purification, Water Desalination, Irrigation Technologies and Waste Water Treatment & Management in the subarea of Water Technologies
- Internet of Things (Smart Mobility, Smart Grids, Smart Cities, etc.)
- Digital Health and Medical Devices: includes categories such as mobile health (mHealth), health information technology (IT), wearable devices, telehealth and telemedicine, and personalized medicine.
- Agro and Food Technologies: Competitive and sustainable technologies and applications to improve agriculture, aquaculture and food production, the supply chain, including cold engineering/cold chain technology, distribution channels until the end consumers and looping cycle/end of life (food safety, farming and food processing technologies, processing and packaging technologies).
- Any other sector of Mutual Interest
Funding Information
- The project must clearly specify the costs of each and all the activities pertaining to the project and specify the costs to be respectively borne by the Spanish and Indian partners. The cost of the Indian and Spanish partners must be eligible under the laws that may be applicable in each country and under internal regulations of CDTI and GITA, respectively.
- The funding conditions from GITA are set in INR and the ones from CDTI in €. Budgets must be expressed in the local currency of each applicant. All figures and budgetary conditions in this Call refer to the value of both currencies on the date of the launch of the Call.
- None of the countries budget (namely the budget of its entities participating in the proposal) can have more than 70% of the global budget.
- GITA, on behalf of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, will fund the successful projects, with under-mentioned details:
- Total project funding as a Grant (by DST) for Indian applicants is up to 50% with a limit of maximum of INR 150 lakhs per project.
- Indian Industry may receive up to 50% of their part of the eligible costs on a “Reimbursement Basis”, for costs already incurred on a proportionate basis.
- Indian R&D organisation/academic institution may receive up to 100% of their costs (within applicable range specified above and as per proposal)
- DST funding support to industry for the project must be matched equally (1:1) by the Indian industry.
- The exact amount of funding will be approved by the Indian Project Evaluation Committee based on merit and the contribution of industry, R&D organisation and academic partners respectively.
- Funding from other public sector sources will be taken into account when awarding soft loan, and applicants will be asked to declare funding from other sources in the application.
Eligible projects under the present RFP are R&D projects falling under the thematic areas to be performed by an international consortium of independent companies from India and Spain. This international consortium shall be formed at least by one qualified partner from each country (1 Indian company + 1 Spanish company), meeting the eligibility criteria for Indian Applicants and Spanish Applicants laid down below.
Indian Applicants
- Eligible Indian applicants must be researchers or managers of for-profit companies that operate and are headquartered in India. Academic institutions, research centres, hospitals (including not-for-profit research institutes recognized by DST/GITA) that are headquartered and operate in India are strongly encouraged to participate in the project as co-investigators.
- Specific criteria for eligible applicants are as follows:
- The Indian Project Lead (IPL) company applying for the project must be incorporated in India under the Companies Act 1956/2013.
- The company must be at least 51% owned by Indian citizens over the total duration of the project.
- The IPL should have the required expertise and team capacity to manage the proposed project.
- Applicants already possesses basic infrastructures/test beds and developed basic Proof of Concept (PoC)
- Sole proprietors and partnership firms are not eligible for support under this programme.
- Companies headquartered and owned outside India and their subsidiaries in India, or vice versa, are not eligible to receive funding from DST/GITA under this programme.
- Please note for Indian applicants:
- Sole proprietors and partnership firms are not eligible for support under this programme.
- Companies headquartered and owned outside India and their subsidiaries in India, or vice versa, are not eligible to receive funding from DST/GITA under this programme.
- Preferences will be given to:
- Indian companies having partnership with government-funded Indian academic and R&D institutions.
- Indian companies having in-house R&D Centre which is recognised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Government of India.
- Companies that fall under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) category, as defined by the Government of India.
- In the case in India where business entities are participants in a project, but with no initial involvement in R&D activities, the project must show a plan of how capabilities are going to be developed in the business entity in the following years in order to:
- Perform future R&D projects
- Develop the human resource capability within the business
- Take technologies that are being developed to market
- Develop new intellectual property, and
- Enhance the Indian technology based companies ecosystem.
- Note that applicants must already possess basic infrastructure/test beds and developed basic Proof of Concept (PoC)
Spanish Applicants
- Eligible Spanish applicants must be individual Spanish companies or an Economic Interest Grouping (EIG) or a consortium made up of at least two independent companies. The applicant companies must be either private or public, operating and registered in Spain, and holding a valid Spanish company tax code (NIF). No minimum Spanish capital percentage ownership is required. Spanish subsidiaries of companies headquartered outside of Spain may also be eligible for support.
- Should the Spanish applicant be a consortium of companies, this Spanish consortium should be led by a Spanish company.
- Collaboration with other entities such as research centres, technological centres, universities, hospitals and other R&D-performing organisations is permitted under CDTI´s regulations, CDTI will not fund them directly, but may finance them indirectly as external collaborations of the Spanish companies involved in the projects.
- According to the applicable EU state aid rules, companies in difficulty are not eligible for CDTI’s funding, neither are companies subject to a pending recovery order following a prior decision of the European Commission declaring the aid illegal and incompatible with the common market.
For more information, visit https://www.gita.org.in/OnlineRfp/ProgramInfo.aspx?GITA=kZdo4yRVS4gRExygXA1GyrAojAuTCdvrgPDO0uR8528=