The Indian Government has been considerate towards start-up founders by introducing Start-up India Action Plan 2016. The Government included over 50 schemes for encouraging start-up founders to develop business across India. With Multiplier Grants Scheme, the Government collaborates with the Academic and Government R&D institutes to develop products and packages in the business industry.

Are you an entrepreneur and trying to acquire some government grants? This article will be your one-stop solution to inform you all about MGS!

The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) has initiated business innovation with Multiplier Grants Scheme. It is an attempt towards bridging the gap between business commercialisation and academic research and development. This scheme aims at helping entrepreneurs establish their start-ups and make quick progress while promoting R&D services of the academic industry.

The business industry relies on effective R&D for incorporating innovation with new products. However, this process can be an expensive one. Recently, there has been a trend towards global products, which eventually drops indigenous sales. Multiplier Grants Scheme (MGS) is a way of addressing it. The Government commits an amount of financial support to an industry or organisation if it supports R&D with its resources.

The Government will be in charge of helping the academic/R&D institutions. MGS will remit the industry's contributions to such institutions in cash for their financial support. When an organisation or a start-up is eligible for this grant, it will cover specific expenses in a project, including human resources, travel, consumables, equipment, etc.

Therefore, the Multiplier Grant Scheme can be a helpful way of supporting both start-ups and academic institutions financially. The ultimate aim of this scheme is to collaborate with the Academic and Government R&D institutions and encourage products and package development with innovative means. Some of its objectives have been discussed below. 

• Establish and improve a connection between academic institutions and the business industry.
• Promote the development of business-specific R&D in such institutions.
• Encourage sales and purchase of indigenous products.
• Reduce the gap between globalisation, R&D and commercialisation within the industry.

The implementation of MGS can be encouraging for new businesses and start-ups. Moreover, people associated with academic institutions can also pursue their business dreams after learning more about the industry with their R&D activities. The following features of the Multiplier Grants Scheme make it more appealing to this industry.

Industry Promotion

Multiplier Grants Scheme aims at promoting the business industry. Academic collaboration in business will help people in the academic field learn more about the industry and its products/packages. Indigenous companies will be able to make more sales if they produce more innovative products with the help of R&D results.

R&D for Innovation

This scheme aims at collaborative research with an academic institution(s)/R&D bodies of the Government. They will be responsible for analysing this industry and developing innovative and advanced technology options in terms of products/packages in businesses. Different areas of Electronics and IT will mainly be under focus while conducting research. MGS will also consider prototyping and packaging for commercialisation in this process.

Market Research

MGS considers such projects which have their ultimate aim of developing technically and commercially viable products. For this, it expects participants to conduct a market survey of products, packages, or services in detail, considering its target audience's requirements. It should also identify buyer behaviour, buyer potential, demand-supply chain, SWOT analysis, assessment of pricing, etc.

Government Grants

When a business supports an academic institute for R&D services, the Government will support such an industry. Once an organisation matches the eligibility criteria, it will apply for a grant. MGS will allow a maximum of ₹ 2 Crores for an individual sector for less than two years. It increases to ₹ 4 Crores for three years for industry consortium. Participants will have to complete a formal agreement regarding IPRs/know-how and royalty/lump sum before the first instalment of grant-in-aid.

Project Coverage

Once a project is eligible for a government grant, they will receive it for specific areas of their projects. These can include tools, equipment, human resources, consumables, etc. It can also cover other areas such as travel and training, contingencies and overheads. However, MGS will limit the grant admissible overheads to 15% of the entire project.

Department Working Group

The Department shall be responsible for setting up a Working Group. It will work towards scrutinising and evaluating respective proposals. Then, it shall report to the Department and recommend suitable projects shortlisted for financial support. Members of the WG might invite additional Domain Experts based on the complexity of the project proposals.

Project Review & Steering Group (PRSG)

The Government shall set up a Project Review & Steering Group (PRSG) for administering MGS. The members of this group shall steer and review the financial and technical progress of projects periodically. After this review, they can send their grant recommendations to the Government. Apart from the release of the grant, PRSG members also decide its continuity, extension or short-closure.

While the Multiplier Grants Scheme is developed keeping entrepreneurs and start-ups in mind, various business industries can be eligible based on their intentions. The Government mostly follows a broad eligibility criterion while selecting project proposals for financial assistance. 

• Project proposals coming jointly from an academic institution /R&D bodies and industry/industry consortiums will be eligible for considerations.
• The proposal should aim at innovation for services, products or packages in the areas of E&IT.
• The purpose of a proposal should be to improve core business areas.
• A project approval depends on the expertise and track record of the appointed institute/ Project investigator in the proposed area. For this, MGS looks into the below-mentioned factors.
  • The courses they conduct, 
  • Prior research/projects they have undertaken 
  • Number of papers they have published, 
  • Industry collaboration (if any), and 
  • Whether the institution has been in existence for the past five years
• MGS only considers projects whose proposed innovation promises technical and commercial viability.
• The industry applying here should have appropriate human resources to work with the proposed technology and infrastructure suitable for production.

Thus, it is evident that Multiplier Grants Scheme can be helpful in various aspects, both for business and academics. If you are still doubtful about it, check out the following benefits of the scheme.

• The academic and Government R&D Labs will take more interest in including market-oriented R&D. this will make Education and Training more relevant to meet the business requirements.
• Industry workers will be able to mobilise technical knowledge and skills among participants.
• With the help of R&D, businesses will develop cost-effective, innovative products, thereby efficiently responding to the market needs.
• Royalty sharing will enable incentives development, attracting human resources and retaining them longer in academia/ Government R&D Labs.
• The interactions between the academia/ R&D Lab and close industry will increase the number of entrepreneurs and business knowledge.

The process of applying for MGS is simple. You will need to follow the steps mentioned below to send a proposal if your proposed area is currently under invitation from this scheme.

• Step 1- Visit the official website of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. From the list of schemes, select Multiplier Grants Scheme.
• Step 2- Click on the link of “Application form for submission of joint R&D project proposal". It will open a form in PDF format. Download it and get a printout.
• Step 3- Fill the form with all your necessary details.
• Step 4- On the same web page, you will find an "Invitation of Project Proposals" link. Here, different areas of projects are listed that are being invited currently. If your project matches the criteria, you can send your application with the required documents to the given address.

Hence, you can see that Multiplier Grants Scheme can be a helpful scheme for financial assistance, particularly if you are an entrepreneur with innovative business ideas. Apart from helping indigenous business growth, this scheme also aims to improve the research labs and increase entrepreneurial start-ups.