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How to Use this Document

This document contains the eligibility criteria, key dates, Request for Proposal (RFP) process, and application form details specific to this RFP for Indian applicants. Canadian applicants should refer to the NRC IRAP call web page for further information on Canadian eligibility and call requirements.

This RFP aims at Industrial R&D Projects involving at least one Indian R&D performing company (as Indian Project Lead [IPL]) and one Canadian R&D performing company (as Canadian Project Lead [CPL]). Participation of research institutions/universities is highly encouraged as Project partners according to each country’s funding regulations. Lead partners from both sides must be businesses/industries. Submission of the proposal under this mode will open and applications will be accepted and reviewed as submitted, per the “Key Dates”, as indicated in the Executive Summary section in this document.

List of Annexures:

1. Annexure 1 – Project Requirements
2. Annexure 2 – Eligibility Criteria for Indian Applicants
3. Annexure 3 – Project Funding Support for Indian Applicants
4. Annexure 4 – Application Submission Process
5. Annexure 5 – Project Evaluation Process
6. Annexure 6 – General Guidelines on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) & Commercialization Plan
7. Annexure 7 – Key Documents Required from Indian Applicants

Annexure 1: PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

The project content and budget should be well balanced between the Canadian and Indian partners. Cost estimates must be congruous with the planned activities.

A collaboration proposing an R&D project that meets the requirements in this section is eligible to apply to this Request for Proposals and does so in accordance with the national laws, rules, regulations, and procedures of their jurisdiction or country.

• An Indian registered company Project Lead (IPL), responsible for the Indian application submission, leading the Indian part of the project and communicating with the Canadian Project Lead (CPL)
• A Canadian incorporated company Project Lead (CPL), responsible for the Canada application submission, leading the Canadian side of the project and communicating with the Indian Project Lead.
• A minimum of 50% of the total project costs must be incurred by the business partners in India and Canada.
• The duration of the Project should be between 18 and 24 months and should result in a commercialize/pre-commercialize product / service at the completion of the technical development stage.

Although it is not mandatory, projects that engage an end-user/first customer are strongly encouraged in either side of the consortium.

If successful, project consortia will be expected to demonstrate that all partners contributing to the R&D project have agreed on International Project Consortium Agreement, including for example, IP Rights and the commercialization plan as part of the final grant agreement process.

Any partner whose cooperative R&D project is consistent with the aforesaid criteria can apply to the present RFP in accordance with the national and/or regional Laws, Rules, Regulations, and Procedures in effect.

Annexure 2: ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR INDIAN APPLICANTS

Applicants from India

The Indian Project Lead (IPL) (i.e. lead company) must be a commercial company that operates in and is headquartered in India. (We expect researchers or managers of these companies to be the nominated applicant.) Academic institutions, other R&D institutes that are headquartered and operate in India are encouraged to participate in the projects as co-investigators/Partners.

Specific criteria for eligible applicants:

1. The Indian Project Lead (IPL) company applying for the project must be incorporated in India under the Companies Act 1956/2013.
2. At least 51% stake of the IPL Company must be owned by Indian citizens.
3. The IPL should have the required expertise and team capacity to manage the proposed project.

Please note for Indian applicants:

• Sole proprietors, OPC 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 TDB under this program.

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 recognized by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Government of India. For details, please refer to DSIR website.
• Companies that fall under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) category, as defined by the Government of India. For definition of MSME, please refer to MSME definition.

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 company’s ecosystem.

Annexure 3: PROJECT FUNDING SUPPORT FOR INDIAN APPLICANTS

1.1. Funding Support for Successful Applicants

TDB and NRC IRAP will implement an integrated, merit-based project evaluation and selection process using their existing assessment processes. TDB and NRC IRAP will then together identify the final list of successful applicants. Funds will be provided in accordance with the applicable laws, rules, regulations, and procedures established by each organization, and/or in each jurisdiction/country. Although the individual type and value of individual contributions allocated to an Indian / Canadian R&D project may vary, each bilateral project must demonstrate equivalent total effort from each participating country.

Technology Development Board (TDB) on behalf of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, will fund the successful projects, as follows:

• Total project funding of up to 50% of Indian Project budget as “Grant” for Indian applicants is a maximum of INR 150 lakhs per project.
• Indian industry may receive up to 50% of their part of the eligible cost on a reimbursement basis, for costs already incurred on a proportionate basis during the project implementation period after sanction of grant to the project.
• DST funding support for the project must be matched equally (1:1) by Indian Industry and R&D organization/academic institution.
• The funding award will be on the basis of appropriate due-diligence and experts’ evaluation.
• Funding from other public sector sources will be taken into account when awarding grant, and applicants will be asked to declare funding from other sources in the application.
• DST through TDB shall provide the funding in the following proportion to the Indian Applicants. These are indicative figures and are subject to change depending on the type of Project and recommendation by the Joint Project Evaluation Committee:
  1. Equipment (40%)
  2. Manpower (30%)
  3. Consumables (20%)
  4. Travel/Others (10%)

1.2. Administrative and legal requirements to be addressed by Indian Project Lead prior to the release of funds

Following award notification, TDB will advise the IPL in their jurisdiction of all administrative and legal requirements to be addressed prior to the start of projects and the release of funds.

Post project approval, as per the recommendations and approval on the project, the Indian Project Lead (IPL), as an Industry lead will be supported with grant as per the terms and conditions of the agreement.

Grant will be in the form of reimbursement for costs already incurred. Project partners are expected to use their own funds for the project activity and seek milestone-based reimbursement of TDB committed fund on a proportional basis.

The release of funding/instalments to the Indian project partners will be as per the (a) agreed milestones and deliverables laid down in the agreement between TDB and IPL and (b) on-site periodic project review by experts nominated by DST/TDB.

Annexure 3: PROJECT FUNDING SUPPORT FOR INDIAN APPLICANTS

1.3. Project Completion

For completion of project and final closure:

• The project lead needs to complete the project within the assigned duration of the project.
• Both the IPL and CPL are required to submit a joint project technical report, highlighting the technical brief and outcome of the joint efforts, to their funding agencies.

Annexure 4: APPLICATION SUBMISSION PROCESS

1. Registration and Submission of Application

• The Indian Project Lead (IPL) should visit the TDB website under the “India-Canada CFP 2023”.
• Registration Process at TDB website: www.tdb.gov.in
1. Registration is two stage process
2. Stage I: Registrants provide basic information.
3. Stage II: The system sends a Login ID and Password to the provided email ID and requests completion of registration.
• Upon completion of registration, registrants receive an auto-generated email acknowledgment confirming the registration along with a registration number.

Application Submission Process

• Indian Project Lead needs to submit the Application online (no other mode of submission will be accepted) as per the deadline.
• Login with the User ID and password.
• Upload the necessary documents as per requirements indicated in Online Application Form Documents Tab.
• Complete and submit the desired Application Form by the deadline.
• Upon Application submission, the system sends an auto-generated email acknowledgment to IPL, along with the application reference number.
• For multiple applications, IPL needs to contact TDB Program Coordinator (Deepak Chaturvedi, Email: indo-canada@tdb.gov.in).

The Indian project lead (IPL) must ensure that the content of the application form is identical to the one being submitted to NRC IRAP by the Canadian Project Lead (CPL).

The application must reflect a combined effort from both the IPL and CPL, be written in English, and submitted using the prescribed process by the stated application submission.

Only online mode of submission will be accepted.

Annexure 5: PROJECT EVALUATION PROCESS

Project Evaluation and Selection in India

STEP 1: Eligibility Check

Complete set of documentation submission by the Indian Project Lead (IPL) and Indian Partners, if any.

STEP 2: Project Evaluation Criteria

Projects will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. Technology maturity stage / proof of concept.
2. Technical capability of Indian Partner (team, infrastructure etc.).
3. Indian Partner’s ability to deliver/complete the project.
4. Financial Capability / Health of the Indian Partner.
5. Project Balance in terms of costs and efforts between the Project Partners.
6. Pre-commercialization and Commercialisation capability of the project.
7. Novelty of Product / Technology.
8. Novelty of process / functionality /integration/service.
9. Potential of Business and Commercialization success with reference to Target Market.
10. Expected economic results from the accomplishment of the project including clear potential to significantly benefit the Canada or India economy or national productivity.
11. A clear, evidence-based plan to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialization, as soon as possible after project completion.

STEP 3: Onsite Techno-Financial Due-Diligence

Onsite Techno-Financial Due-Diligence of the recommended projects. CPL and IPL visits and vice-versa.

STAGE 4

In India and Canada: a joint ranking list is produced based on the results of the national review processes.

STAGE 5

Announcement of awarded projects.

STAGE 6

In India: signing of Grant Agreement (GA).

Annexure 6: GENERAL GUIDELINES ON IPR & COMMERCIALISATION PLAN

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) & Commercialization Plan from the Project

IPR Agreement:

1. The partner/s to a project from India and the partner/s to the project from the Partner Country (each the “Party” and collectively the “Parties”) will ensure appropriate protection of Intellectual Property Rights generated from cooperation pursuant to International Project Consortium Agreement, consistent with their respective laws, rules, and regulations and multilateral agreements to which both Parties are party to.
2. Each Party is and shall remain owner of its Background IP. “Background IP” refers to the intellectual property rights of a Party that is owned or controlled by that Party prior to the execution of the cooperation agreement, or created by a Party outside the scope of the International Project Consortium Agreement or without use or reliance on the confidential information or intellectual property rights of the other Party.
3. Access rights to background IP of one Party may be granted to the other Party only to the extent necessary for the execution and during term of the joint project.
4. Ownership and rights to Foreground IP will be agreed upon by the Parties mutually. “Foreground IP” refers to any invention conceived and reduced to practice, or know-how generated, solely by employees, agents, or independent contractors of a Party as a result of performing the activities under the cooperation agreement.
5. The IPR agreement should expressly reflect the contribution of each Party in the creation of the Foreground IP.
6. Joint IP rights will be applicable only when both Parties have an inventive contribution to Foreground IP. The Parties shall not assign any rights and obligations arising out of the joint IPR generated to inventions/activities carried out under the International Project Consortium Agreement to any third Party without consent of the other Party.

Commercialization:

1. In case of Joint IP under this International Project Consortium Agreement, both Indian and Partner Country parties will apply as co-applicants, subject to any respective field of use agreed upon, if applicable, for the protection of intellectual property rights subject to joint rights of both the Parties in accordance with the terms and conditions of the cooperation agreement.
2. The Partner Country and Indian Parties shall agree in advance on the IP rights and on the ownership, management, and commercialization strategy of the product or process prior to the creation of any Foreground IP.
3. The relationship between the Parties must be clearly defined, including ownership of intellectual property rights for the technology proposed to be developed and commercialized. Partners must sign a formal company-company business agreement prior to the start of the Project to address issues relating to IP ownership, license rights, manufacturing rights, marketing responsibilities, ownership of technology, benefits to each Applicant during commercialization, as well as repayment to respective Government, if applicable.
4. The Parties shall declare that to the best of their knowledge and belief, that the use of the Background IP or Foreground IP in connection with the cooperation agreement does not infringe any third party’s valid patent right/intellectual Property rights. The validation and verification in context of the project, is to be carried out with much sensitivity and precaution by Parties to avoid all kinds of infringements rights. The Parties will be jointly responsible for the Joint IP and solely responsible on Background IP and/or Foreground IP for any kind of legal implications emanating from infringement by them, and as set forth in the cooperation agreement.
5. The Party/Parties from Canada will sign a separate agreement with the NRC IRAP and the Party/Parties from India will sign a separate agreement with TDB.

Confidential Information:

• All information and documents to be exchanged pursuant to the International Project Consortium Agreement will be kept confidential by the Parties and will be used subject to such terms as each Party may specify. The Parties will not use the information for purposes other than that specified without the prior written consent of the other Party.
• All Confidential Information shall remain the exclusive property of the disclosing Party. The Parties agree that this agreement and the disclosure of the Confidential Information do not grant or imply any license, interest or right to the Recipient in respect to any intellectual property right of the other Party.
• Unpublished information, whether oral, in writing or otherwise, discovered or conceived by the scientists or technicians and exchanged under the provisions of this International Project Consortium Agreement will not be transmitted to a third party, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Parties.

List of Supporting Documents to be Submitted by Indian Applicants

1. Covering letter.
2. Presentation for Evaluation Committee Meeting – add photographs in PPT.
3. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between All Consortium Partners. This MoU should cover:
   • Percentage sharing of IP Rights on new product/process/knowledge being developed/created/invented during this collaborative R&D Process.
   • Background IP’s of the partnership (If Any) to be used for this project scope.
   • Probable/possible market for the new product/process/knowledge & rights to manufacture/License in the respective market for the period of Time (time span).
   • % sharing of Royalty.
   • Dispute and arbitration clause.
   • Exclusivity and Non-Exclusivity rights if any.
   • Duration of this agreement in force.
4. Registration Certificate of all project partners, including Academia/R&D Labs, issued by competent authority.
5. In case of in-house R&D Centres, all relevant certificates from stakeholders, competent authority relevant for in-house R&D, Defence Manufacturing & production should be submitted.
6. Audited Annual Reports (including Income Tax Return, Balance Sheet, and Profit & Loss Account & Auditor’s Reports) of all Consortium partners for the last three Financial Years.
7. Know Your Customer (KYC) documents of all Consortium partner(s). KYC means Identity & Address proof of the organization which includes Company PAN Card, Electricity Bill, etc.)
8. Self-Declaration of Applicant on Company letterhead, signed by MD/CEO/Company Secretary, as all Statutory Norms are compiled by the Applicant till date.
9. Share Holding Pattern of the Company (highlighting the Foreign Investment, if any)
10. Copy of all relevant Certification like Pollution board, ISO, etc. if any.

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