On June 12^th, 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for co-operation in the field of Science and Technology was signed between the Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) and the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade (MITyC) of Spain, with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of India, whereby the Parties committed themselves respectively to promote direct scientific and technological co-operation between Government agencies, universities, public research bodies, academies of science, research institutions, institutes of higher education, enterprises and scientific societies.

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 30^th 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.

For India, funding and other services will be provided through the Global Innovation & Technology Alliance (GITA), a not-for-profit ompany, promoted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Technology Development Board of the Department of Science & Technology,Govt of India engaged by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India for this purpose. For Spain, funding and other services will be provided through the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) under the Secretariat of State for Research, Development and Innovation, Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Government of Spain. CDTI, Spain's National Innovation Agency is a public entity charged to promote business R&D and foster the technological level and innovation capacity of Spanish companies. CDTI is the Spanish public entity that channels and supports applications for national and international R&D&I projects of Spanish companies.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to review the complete application guidelines before developing and submitting an Expression of Interest or a complete proposal

Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India

The Department of Science & Technology (DST) of Government of India was established in May 1971, with the objective of promoting 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. The Department of Science &Technology has an important role in building a strong base for research, development and demonstration in India and in addressing national concerns about strengthening science and technology. DST, as a national agency for strengthening the base of science and technology in the country, has made a sincere attempt to address national concerns of India in basic research.

For more information about DST, please visit www.dst.gov.in

Global Innovation & Technology Alliance (GITA)

GITA is a “not–for–profit” Public Private Partnership (PPP) company promoted jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with 51% holding and the Technology Development Board (TDB), Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India (GoI) with 49% holding.

It is an innovative mechanism between the government and Indian industry for attracting the industry’s investment in technology by mapping technology gaps, evaluating technology offers across the globe, connecting among technology developers, providers, commercializers, and funding last phase of technology development that connects the market and deployment of technology solutions.

For more information about GITA, please visit www.gita.org.in

CDTI

For Spain, funding and other services will be provided through the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) under the Secretariat of State for Research, Development and Innovation, Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Government of Spain. CDTI, Spain's National Innovation Agency is a public entity charged to promote business R&D and foster the technological level and innovation capacity of Spanish companies. CDTI is the Spanish public entity that channels and supports applications for national and international R&D&I projects of Spanish companies.

For more information about CDTI, please visit our website at:www.cdti.es

Current RFP invites collaborative Applications in following areas:

• Clean Tech (Renewables, Water, 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 & 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.

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), will fund the successful projects, with under-mentioned details: 

• Total project funding as Royalty Based Conditional Grant (by DST) 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 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 values, CDTI-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.

Eligible projects under the present RFP are R&D projects falling under the thematic areas described above in section 2, 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.

R&D project proposals will be strengthened by the participation of research centres, academic entities or other R&D performing organisations as a component of the R&D.

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)  

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.  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.

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.

• Joint Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) activities including e.g. development, piloting, demonstration and testing.
• Projects should be innovative and user need-driven and they should lead to new products, services or processes with potential to commercialization while also having favourable societal impacts.
• Duration of the project should not be more than 24 months

The eligibility of each application will be screened and completed by GITA and CDTI within one month from the closing date of the RFP. GITA and CDTI may contact the applicants requesting them to provide missing or additional information. All applicants will be notified of the results of the initial review of their projects by the respective Implementing Organisation.

Thereafter, GITA and CDTI will share information and produce a final list of complete project proposals officially submitted to both Implementing Organisations. This action may result in:

• Rejecting project proposals only submitted in Spain or India.
• Dismissing project proposals not meeting the basic eligibility criteria mentioned in the RFP guidelines; a separate communication will be sent by GITA and CDTI informing of this decision.

After producing and agreeing upon the final list of complete project proposals officially submitted under the RFP, GITA and CDTI will communicate the final decision to all the IPL and SPL applicants

What You Can Claim as Eligible Costs for the Project?

This document is intended for use with the RFP Guidance Document. It covers the following:

There are ranges of costs that can be supported as your eligible project costs.

The estimates of the costs that you use to complete the project cost must be the total costs for the project and will include costs for all activities and all participants that are involved in your section (part)of the project.

Please Note: Any revenue generation activities cannot be included as part of project costs. Only Research & Development related activities can be included as part of project costs.

Eligible Costs

For a cost within your project to be eligible for funding it must:

• be incurred and paid between your project start and end dates.
• meet the eligibility criteria in the categories listed below.

GITA pays your grant based on audited actual eligible costs. These costs must be incurred and paid between your project start and end dates.

1. Labour Cost:

You may claim the labour costs of all individuals working directly on your project. You need to list the total man-days worked by all personnel working directly on your project and briefly describe their role.

Your eligible labour costs will be on the basis of salary amounts actually incurred and paid. You therefore cannot include any form of in-kind/goodwill contribution by staff members or costs relating to profit related pay, dividends, shares, share options, royalties or similar remuneration methods.

The total number of working days per year for the organisation is based on full time working days per year less standard holiday allowance. Sick days, waiting time, training days and non-productive time are not eligible as part of the calculation.

Project Management cost: 

The costs of project management by an Indian Project Lead (IPL) on behalf of the Indian consortium (IPL and collaborating R&D organisation/academic institution are eligible and should be included within your Labour calculation. In cases where your project management is sub-contracted, a strong case should be made for the necessity and benefits of this approach.

2. Overheads

In every project, there are always some overheads. .  These overheads, however, will be determined by the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC), on a case to case basis, at a flat rate (percentage) to the total project cost.

While determining the overhead flat rate (percentage), PEC will take into consideration the following:

• Board and Senior Management Salaries and Fees should relate to the executive function of the organisation (e.g. Board of Directors). You should only include senior staff members that are purely strategic or administrative in function NOT income generating or customer facing/selling. You should NOT include   distribution/supply chain, selling or marketing senior staff.
• Administrative support functions include HR, finance, IT, site services and any other administrative support activities. You should NOT include income generating functions or related functions such as distribution/supply chain, selling or marketing.
• Bonuses, awards, profit related pay, company car expenses and any discretionary benefits to staff are ineligible.
• Sales, Marketing and Account Management costs are ineligible.
• Entertainment and hospitality costs are ineligible.
• Patent maintenance costs are eligible but should NOT include new filings and search fees in new territories or costs relating to Trademarks.
• General, site and utility costs should be relevant to administrative facilities NOT operational/production facilities.
• Non-productive time or waiting time between projects is ineligible.

3. Materials Consumed

The costs of materials to be consumed directly on your project are eligible costs, providing that they are not already included in the overheads and purchased from third parties. If material has a residual/resale value at the end of your project, costs should be reduced accordingly.

If you are using materials supplied by associated companies or sub contracted from other consortium members then you are required to exclude the profit element of the value placed on that material - the materials should be charged at cost.

Software that you have purchased specifically for use during your project can be included in materials.

However, if you already own software which will be used in the project, or it is provided for usage within your consortium by a consortium member, only additional costs incurred & paid between the start and end of your project will be eligible. Examples of costs that may be eligible are those related to the preparation of disks, manuals, installation, training or customisation. Costs should be split between their component parts and allocated to the appropriate cost category.

4. Capital Usage

Capital usage refers to an asset utilised by your planned project, which has a useful life of more than one year, is stand-alone, distinct and moveable.

You should provide details of capital equipment and tools to be bought for your project.

5. Sub-contracts, Consultancy Fees (including Fees for Trial and Testing)

Sub Contract costs relate to work carried out by third party organisations that are not part of your project or your collaborative group. You may sub contract work that is essential to the success of your project where the expertise does not exist in the collaborative group or where it would not be cost-effective to develop in-house skills for your project.

Sub contract services supplied by associated companies should exclude any profit element and be charged at cost.

You should name the subcontractor (where known) and describe what the subcontractor will be doing and where the work will be undertaken. We will look at the size of this contribution when assessing eligibility and level of support.

6. Travel and Subsistence

You should only include reasonable costs that are justified and will be incurred exclusively for the progression of the research project. Details and purpose for the expenditure, including number of staff attending, must be given.  In case of Air-travel, economy class air-fare only will be supported under the programme.

International travel, strictly between India and counterpart country, may be supported on a case to case basis, as per the applicable norms of the Government of India.

7. Other Costs

Other Costs can be used for eligible costs which are not included in the above sections. Each type of cost that you include in this section should be described in the application form as to what it is, why it is eligible and so included in the costs of the project.

Examples may include:

Training Costs – These costs are eligible for support where they are specific to and necessary for your project. GITA may consider support for management training specific to your project but will not support ongoing training.

Preparation of Technical Report(s) – For example, where the main objective of your project is the support of standards or technology transfer. You should demonstrate how this report is above and beyond what would normally be produced through good project management.

Market Assessment – There is some scope for support of market assessments studies in order to more fully understand the applicability of your projects results to the intended market and to help steer your project towards exploitable ends.

Licensing in New Technologies – Exceptionally, GITA may consider support where it makes sense to do so, for example, to avoid “reinventing the wheel”. Where imported technology makes up a large part of your project then it will be expected that there is development of that technology as part of your project.

Patent filing costs for NEW IP generated by your project may   only be allowable for MSMEs, which will be decided on a case to case basis. These should not include legal costs relating to the filing or trademark related expenditure as these are deemed to be marketing/exploitation costs. Regulatory compliance costs are eligible if necessary to carry out your project.

8. Project Audit, Legal and Accounting Costs

The legal costs of setting up project or the collaboration and costs associated in conducting audits, accountant’s reports or making grant claims are ineligible.

9. Contribution in Kind

Contributions in Kind (CiK) are goods or services provided free of charge by a party that is NOT a member of your consortium and not subject to the terms and conditions of an Offer Letter. They can be in the form of access to facilities, supply of materials, labour or expertise but must not include a profit element.

CiK costs must meet the usual eligibility criteria and must have been incurred and paid by the provider between the start and end of your project. Verification is normally done during the audit of your project through a CiK certificate provided by the contributing organisation.

Contributions of this type should be shown with their value contributing to the total eligible costs of the receiving partner. Grant can be claimed and adjusted to the extent of the value determined against such contributions, if goods or services under CiK are already included in the project proposal.

10. Cash Transfers

Cash transfers are not allowable except under exceptional circumstances with prior agreement. Where these are allowed, the transfers are cash neutral to the total eligible costs of your project. The donating partner should show the cash value in their costs as a positive value. The receiving partner should show an equal negative value in their costs.

Once your project commences, it will be necessary for the partners to invoice and transfer cash between them in order for this to be eligible.

11. Cash Contributions

If a cash contribution is being made to your project from outside of your consortium, this should be shown as a negative value in the Costs worksheet, thus reducing the eligible costs for the receiving partner and reducing their grant application.

Non-Eligible Costs:

• Input VAT, Excise Duty;
• Interest charges, bad debts, profits, advertising, entertaining;
• Hire purchase interest and any associated service charges;
• Production, quality control/assurance, , distribution, supply chain or selling costs or activities;
• Advertising and marketing costs or activities;
• Entertainment and hospitality costs;
• Profit earned by a subsidiary or by an associate undertaking work sub-contracted out under your project;
• Inflation and contingency allowances;
• The value of existing assets such as IPR (not developed as part of this project), data, software programmes and other exploitable assets that any of the collaborators contribute towards your project;
• Project audit or legal costs. The legal costs of setting up your project or the collaboration and costs associated in conducting audits, accountant’s reports or making grant claims;
• Sick days, waiting time and non-productive time;
• Bonuses, awards, profit related pay, company car expenses and any discretionary benefits to staff.
• Project audit fees

For further information/clarification, please contact Mr. Shubham Chopra at shubham.chopra@gita.org.in

The Bilateral Application Form, Guidelines and other relevant documents and information regarding the RFP are made available on GITA's and CDTI-E.P.E.'s websites for Indian and Spanish applicants respectively from the date of official launch of the Indo-Spanish Call for Industrial R&D Proposals until the last date of submission of the application. During this period Indian applicants can register on GITA's website (www.gita.org.in), access, download and submit the on line application form.  Similarly, Spanish applicants can register on CDTI-E.P.E.'s website (www.cdti.es), access templates and relevant information regarding the RFP, and submit electronically the R&D proposals.

Spanish and Indian Co-Applicants must develop a unique project proposal application that shall be submitted in English using the bilateral application form (attached as Annex 1) agreed by both institutions, GITA and CDTI-E.P.E., simultaneously within the deadline of the RFP.

HOW TO APPLY?

• Joint R&D proposals must be submitted to both of the nodal agencies (GITA in India, CDTI-E.P.E. in Spain) before deadline, April 2nd 2019. Unilaterally submitted proposals shall not be considered.

• Indian and Spanish Co-Applicants must elaborate a single project proposal application (Annex 1 - Bilateral Co-operation Form). Project proposals that are not in the prescribed template or are handwritten shall not be accepted. The Bilateral Co-operation Form must emphasise how the proposed collaboration adds value, main technology highlights and innovations, activities to be developed by the Parties involved underlining the collaborative R&D work being carried out on each side, their expertise, etc.

Please note that this Bilateral Co-operation Form must be sealed (stamped) and signed by all co-applicants at the end of the document, expressly indicating name and designation of the authorized signatory in the organisation. Any other relevant information not expressly mentioned on the form and that the applicants consider relevant may be included as Annexes.

• In addition to the Bilateral Co-operation Form, co-applicants must submit the following documents as relevant appendices:

• Consortium Agreement in English whereby co-applicants should agree upon the ownership, access rights and exploitation of intellectual property generated during the co-operation, to be submitted to GITA and CDTI-E.P.E. No prescribed format is provided in Annexes. Similarly, the Consortium Agreement needs to be sealed (stamped) and signed by all co-applicants.

• Funding organisation-specific documents to be submitted to GITA and CDTI-E.P.E. respectively, as per their guidelines.

• INDIA - GITA

Registration and Online application submission process

• The Indian Project Lead need to visit India-Spain Program of Cooperation on Industrial R&D 2019 (http://gita.org.in/bilateral_funding_India-Spain.html).

• Registration for online application submission is mandatory.

• Registration Process at GITA website:

• Registration is two stage process
• Stage I - Registrant needs to provide basic information.
• Stage II – The system will send a Login ID and Password to the email ID provided, and ask for completion of registration. 
• Upon completion of registration, registrants will receive an auto-generated email/SMS acknowledgement shortly after, confirming the registration along with registration number.

• Post registration, registrants will be able to access and download RFP forms and common guidelines to apply for funding under the India-Spain Programme 2019.

• Application Submission Process:

• Indian Project Lead needs to submit the Application online (no other mode of submission will be accepted) by April 2nd 2019.
• Login with the same ID and password, created/used during registration.
• Complete and submit the desired Application Form before the deadline.
• Upon Application submission, the system will send auto-generated SMS/email acknowledgement to IPL, along with application reference number.
• Please upload the necessary documents as per deadlines as per requirements.
• For multiple applications, IPL needs to contact GITA Programme Managers (contact details given in page 12 and page 32.).

• The Indian project lead must ensure that the content of the application form is identical to the one being submitted to CDTI-E.P.E. by the Spanish project lead.

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

• Only online mode of submission will be accepted.

• Appendix E & F are mandatory for Indian applicant at the time of application submission 

In addition to submitting the Application Form and its appendices, the Indian Project Lead (IPL) will also be required to submit/upload the following:

• Where the IPL/Partners are recognised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Government of India or any other competent authority as an in–house R&D unit, supporting document for the same.
• Know Your Customer (KYC) documents of IPL/Partners.
• Copy of the Company Registration Certificate of IPL/Partners.
• Audited Annual Reports (including Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Account & Auditor’s Reports) of IPL/Partners for the last three Financial Years. Annual Report can be exempted in case of institutions managed by a Government Agency.

The above list is indicative and GITA, in India, may seek additional documents/information from individual project applicants.