Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry has requested for proposals (RFP) under the recently announced Technology Acquisition & Development Fund (TADF), for financial support in acquisition of environment compliant technology and equipment by MSMEs.
Towards cost of acquiring technical knowhow and Patents, Government will provide support up to 50% of the technology cost limited to Rs 20 lakh. For procurement of environment friendly and renewable energy equipment by MSMEs, subsidy of 10% of the Capital Expenditure is available with a ceiling of R 50 lakh.
The last date for submission of the proposals has been mentioned as 29th February, 2016, for the current cycle of RFP.
MSMEs were asking the Government for considerable time to subsidise acquiring of advance know how for manufacturing to make Indian products globally competitive. TADF addressed the issue to some extent.
The various component under which support is available to MSMEs under TADF Scheme are:
Direct Technology Acquisition – Reimbursement of 50% of Technology Transfer fee or Rs 20 Lakhs, whichever is lower.
Indirect Technology Acquisition Subsidy of 50% or R 2 lakh whichever is lower.
Subsidy for Manufacturing Equipment / Technology – Up to 10% of capital expenditure With a maximum of R 50 lakh whichever is lower;
Incentive for Green Manufacturing This component is exclusively for enterprises located in National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ).
In contrast to the existing CLCSS ( Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme) of the Ministry of MSME, under which the ceiling on subsidy for acquiring equipment with upgrade technology is Rs 20 lakh, the TADF scheme provide subsidy upto Rs 50 lakh at 10% of the technology cost.
In the original National Manufacturing Policy 2011, which first mooted about a Technology Acquisition Fund, there was also a provision for compulsory acquisition of Patents by the Government for transfer of technology to MSMEs at economic cost.
The announced scheme falls short of that but mention about patent pooling where Government will acquire appropriate technology patents for transfer to a select group of MSMEs.
Source: MENAFN.COM
