India-Spain Programme of Cooperation on Industrial Research & Development 2018.

INDIA – SPAIN PROGRAMME OF CO-OPERATION ON
INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

A Bilateral Framework providing financial support for collaborative R&D ventures between Indian and Spanish Industry and Academia 

– Request for Proposals Fact Sheet-

 

GITA – CDTI-E.P.E. Joint Request for Proposals (RFP) for
Collaborative Industrial R&D Projects (March 2018)

 

Name of  the Programme : India-SpainProgramme of Co-operation on Industrial R&D.

Applications invited for : Funding support for industry-driven and close to market R&D Projects between India and Spain.

Important Dates:

Official Launch of Request for Proposals: March 15th 2018.

Submission Date for Full Application Form / Proposal: July 10th 2018.

Release of Request for Proposals Results: September, 2018 (Tentative).

Who Can Apply?

Application must be led by the industry from India and Spain and the participation of research institutes and the academia in the projects is strongly encouraged. Minimum Eligibility Criteria: one qualified partner from each country (1 Indian Company + 1 Spanish Company).

The spirit of the Programme is to promote co-operation between companies in a voluntary basis, meaning cooperation between independent companies.

Eligible Indian Applicants

Eligible Indian Project Lead (IPL). Applicants from the industry are Indian companies, registered in India under the Indian Companies Act 1956 with a minimum of 51% Indian ownership.

Other Eligible Indian applicants include

Researchers and managers from academic institutions, research hospitals or other R&D institutions (including not-for-profit research institutes recognized by DST/MeitY/GITA) that are headquartered and operate in India. Sole proprietors, partnership firms and subsidiaries of firms headquartered and owned outside India are not eligible for support under this programme.

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)

Eligible Spanish Applicants.

Eligible Spanish Project Lead (SPL). Applicants from the industry are companies, either private or public, operating and registered in Spain and holding a valid Spanish company tax code (CIF). No minimum Spanish capital percentage ownership is required. Spanish subsidiaries of companies headquartered outside of Spain may also be eligible for support.

As per CDTI-E.P.E.’s internal regulations, the Spanish consortia 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-E.P.E.’s regulations, as subcontractors of the Spanish companies present in the consortia.

Eligible technology sectors

Scope: Present RFP is open to joint industrial R&D projects between Spanish and Indian partners in any area, 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 areas:

• AGRO & FOOD TECHNOLOGIES. Competitive and sustainable technologies and applications to improve agriculture, aquaculture and food production, the supply chain, including cold engineering, distribution channels until the end consumers and looping cycle/end of life (food safety, farming and food processing technologies, processing and packaging technologies).
• CLEANTECH (RENEWABLE ENERGY, – WATER & ENVIRONMENT). 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.
• ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES AND MATERIALS. New and enhanced processes to manufacture existing products; design and manufacture of new products through the development and adoption of advanced technologies, materials, management systems and processes; servisitation of products and life cycle management.
• SMART CITIES (SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND TRANSPORT NETWORKS, SMART GRIDS):
  – Smart Energy Systems
  – Building and Space Sustainability
  – Intelligent Transport and Mobility
  – Societal Challenges: inclusion, education, health, tourism, etc.
  – Electronic, open and participatory government.
• HEALTH (ENGINEERING & ICT APPLIED TO HEALTH). Optimization and/or development of new devices, medical equipment, technologies and processes for diagnostic, monitoring and treatment of health related ailments. Bioengineering, medical imaging, e-health, engineering for surgery and ICT for health applications, biomedical instruments, process automatization, engineering for diagnostics and detection, orthopedics & prosthetics and patient monitoring. Projects in Biotechnology not included.

 
Project funding support
In India

Applications received under the sectors of the call would be funded by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India . DST provides Royalty Based Conditional Grant up to 50% of the approved Indian budget with a limit of Rs 1.50 Crs to Indian companies

GITA on behalf of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), overnment of India, will fund the successful projects, with under-mentioned details:

•  Total project funding as Royalty Based Conditional Grant for Indian applicants is upto 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 cost in form of Royalty Based Conditional Grant.
• 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 for the project must be matched equally (1:1) by Indian Industry and R&D organisation/academic institution.
• 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 grant/soft loan, and applicants will be asked to declare funding from other sources in the application.

 
In Spain

CDTI-E.P.E. will fund the Spanish Companies, Consortia or EIG’s participation in the awarded joint projects. CDTI-E.P.E. can only provide funding to Spanish companies subject to budget availability and as per the financing conditions valid at the time of signature of the financing commitment between CDTI-E.P.E. and the awarded companies.

Collaboration with other entities such as research centres, technological centres, universities, hospitals and other R&D-performing organisations is permitted under CDTI-E.P.E. regulations. Although CDTI-E.P.E. will not fund these entities directly, it may finance them indirectly as external collaborations of the Spanish Companies involved in the project.

CDTI-E.P.E. financing conditions shall abide by the Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014, of 17 June 2014, declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“GBER”).

In particular, the amount of the aid, in terms of gross subsidy equivalent, shall, in all cases, adhere to the maximum intensity limits laid down in the GBER. CDTI-E.P.E.’s financing conditions valid on the date of the official launch of the Call are as follow.

Eligible expenditure:

• Personnel expenses (researchers, technicians and other ancillary personnel, provided that they are engaged exclusively in the research project).
• Instrument and material costs, to the extent and during the period in which they are used for the research project, including amortisations, where appropriate.
• Contractual research costs, technical knowledge and patents bought or licensed from outside sources at market prices, and costs for consulting and equivalent services intended exclusively for the research activity.
• Additional general expenses resulting directly from the research project.
• Other operating expenses, including costs for material, supplies and similar products, which result directly from the research project.

Funding method and amount:

• Soft loan of up to 75% (exceptionally up to 85%) of the eligible costs of the Spanish Companies in the awarded project at an annual fixed interest rate equivalent to Euribor (Euro Interbank Offered Rate); 25% left must be provided by the company. Soft loan must be paid back to CDTI-E.P.E. in 10 years with initial moratorium from 2 to 3 years. Out of the 75% of the soft loan granted to the awarded Companies, up to 33% may be considered a grant in aid, and therefore non reimbursable. Minimum budget for the project of 175.000 euros.
  * If the Euribor reaches negative valuesCDTI-E.P.E. will consider its value to 0.
• Spanish companies in eligible projects under this Call for Proposals may also apply for grant from 30% to 50% of the approved budget under the INNOGLOBAL Programme by CDTI-E.P.E. (competitive calls subject to specific deadlines). Minimum budget for the project of 150.000 euros.

 
Selection Criteria

1. The project should be innovative aiming to lead to a new or substantial improvement of a product, process or servicewith clear commercial potential

2. The project must show balanced effort of R&D activities and resources both in India and in Spain.

3. Duration of projects will be from 1 to a maximum of 3 years.

4. The industry partners from India must contribute at least 50% of their participation cost in the project with own economic resources. Industry partners from Spain must contribute at least 30% of their participation cost in the project with own economic resources.

5. The application will be strengthened by the participation of academic and institutional researchers as a component of the R&D project.

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