Funding

Call for R&D Proposals by India – Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund

March 14, 2022

Designation/Position- Call for R&D Proposals

India – Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund (I4F) invites application for Call for R&D Proposals from eligible and interested candidates

About- Global Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA) is a “not–for–profit” Public Private Partnership (PPP) company promoted jointly by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Technology Development Board under the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India. GITA encourages industrial investments in innovative technology solutions by Connecting Industrial and Institutional partners for synergistic matchmaking under its Bilateral Programme with various countries.

Table Of Contents

Designation/Position- Call for R&D Proposals
Research/Job Area-
Location- India
Eligibility/Qualification-
Job/Position Description-
How to Apply-
Last Date for Apply– 16 June 2022

Research/Job Area-

Call for Proposal is open to the applied R&D projects in all areas but will priorities the areas of:

Agriculture
Energy
Healthcare
Information & Communication Technologies (ICT)
Water

Location- India

Eligibility/Qualification–

Each proposal must include an eligible Project Lead Applicant who would be responsible for application submission and leading the project in the two countries respectively. Although it is not mandatory, projects that engage a technology developer and a technology end-user /first customer are strongly encouraged.

Before submitting the proposal, the heads of the principal entities (Project Leads) of both countries shall have completed negotiations on details including payment of contributions, roles and mutual responsibilities.

Indian Applicants

Eligible Indian applicants must be researchers or managers of companies that operate and are headquartered in India. Academic institutions, research hospitals, other R&D institutes (including not-for-profit research institutes recognized by DST/GITA) that are headquartered and operate in India are strongly encouraged to participate in the projects as co-investigators.

Specific criteria for eligible applicants are as follows:

The Indian Project Lead (INPL) (i.e. lead company) must be a commercial company under the Indian Company Act 1956, which operates in and is headquartered in India.
At least 51% stake of the INPL Company must be owned by Indian citizens.
The INPL should have the required expertise and team capacity to manage the proposed project.
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.
INPL should lead the project from Indian side and if required bring in other Industry Partners or Academic/R&D Institutions as Sub-contractors.

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. For details, please refer to http://www.dsir.gov.in/forms/irdpp/Application%20for%20R&D.pdf.
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 http://www.dcmsme.gov.in/ssiindia/defination_msme.htm.

Israeli Applicants

An Israeli for profit R&D performing company, which is registered, operate in Israel as Project Lead (ISPL), responsible for the Israel application submission, leading the Israeli side of the project and communicating with the Indian Project Lead.

The Israeli Project Lead (ISPL) ((i.e. lead company) and any other Israeli company that is signed on the Cooperation and Project and Funding Agreement are subjected to the Israeli Research and Development Law (1984) and to the Israel Innovation Authority Board Guideline number 1.

Important Notes (this section will go below the eligibility)

Collaborations must be business-led from both sides.

Sub-contractors (i.e. universities,research institutions) are eligible to participate as Sub-contractors or as part of bi-lateral Indo-Israeli consortium as long as they have background IP that will be used in the joint project or if they get ownership on the new developed Product

Job/Position Description-

With a view to foster bilateral industrial research and development (R&D) between India and Israel, the Governments of the two countries have created a US$40 million fund (over 5 years) – India–Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund (I4F) – to seed finance innovative industrial R&D projects between the two countries. The Fund was launched jointly by the Prime Ministers of India and Israel in January 2018. Applicants need to be industries having projects in the focus areas of the call.

The ninth call for proposals under the I4F fund is open with a deadline for receiving applications till 16 June, 2022.

Grant/Funding Available: DST/GITA will support a minimum of INR 1.5 crores to a maximum of INR 8 crores per project or 50% of the Indian Project Cost whichever is lower. A similar quantum of funding support will be provided to the Israeli Industry by their Government.

How to Apply-

The I4F common applications are to be submitted following these criteria and in accordance with the national laws, rules, regulations and procedures in effect:

At least two science and technology companies from the respective countries should express a desire to cooperate in the research and development of a new product or a new process.
The project may involve more than one company from each side; academic/research entities are eligible to join as sub-contractors or as part of a bi-lateral Indo-Israeli consortium.
The product should be technologically innovative and should have commercial potential. The joint industrial R&D project should aim at the development of products/processes leading to commercialization in the global market.
The project partners should agree in advance on the IP rights and on the commercialization strategy of the product or process.
The project should demonstrate the contribution of the participants from both countries
The project must be balanced between participants and significant to both partners (no less than 40%-60%)
The project timeframe is limited to 2 (two) years.
A minimum of 50% of the total project costs must be incurred by the business partners (Israel and India).
Although it is not mandatory, projects that engage an end-user/first customer are strongly encouraged in either side of the consortium

Applications meeting all basic criteria of the CFP are invited to submit full project proposals using the I4F common forms to both Implementing Organizations simultaneously within the deadline of the particular CFP’s period. Applications submitted after the deadline of the call period would be considered eligible for the next call period. The proposal’s application must be signed following the CFP instructions.

The Israeli partner is required to submit I4F application forms in accordance with the Israel Innovation Authority regulations, through the official Israel Innovation Authority websites online system. The Indian partner is required to submit I4F application forms to DST/GITA website’s through an online system.

Only online mode of submission will be accepted.