Technology Development Board (TDB)

A lab can prove that an idea works. A factory must then prove that it works in bulk, at a fair cost. That second step needs money, and banks often shy away from it. The Technology Development Board exists to help with that step.

Think of a relay race. The lab runs the first leg and hands over the baton. The company runs the second leg. TDB pays for the handover.

1.1 What is TDB, and when did it start?

The Technology Development Board (TDB) is a statutory body. That means a law created it. The law is the Technology Development Board Act, 1995. The President gave assent on 16 December 1995.

TDB came into being on 1 September 1996. It works as a body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Its job is to promote the development and commercialisation of indigenous technology. That means technology made in India. It also helps adapt imported technology for wider use at home.

TDB’s website calls it the first organisation of its kind in the government. Its sole object is to commercialise the fruit of indigenous research.

What does “commercialise” mean? It means turning a working lab result into a product that people can buy.

Common mistake: September 1996 is not the year of the Act. The Act is from 1995. The Board began work in 1996.

1.2 Who sits on the Board?

The Board has 11 members. The Secretary of DST is the ex-officio Chairperson. “Ex-officio” means a person sits on the Board because of the post they hold.

• Ex-officio members: the Secretaries of the Departments of Expenditure, Industrial Policy and Promotion, Scientific and Industrial Research, Defence Research and Development, and Rural Development.
• Member Secretary: the Secretary of TDB.
• Nominated members: four people chosen by the Central Government.

Why such a mix? Money, industry, science, defence and rural needs all matter to technology. One table brings these voices together.

TDB does not depend on a yearly budget line alone. It runs a dedicated fund.

2.1 What is the R&D Cess?

Parliament passed the Research and Development Cess Act, 1986. The Act allows a cess on payments for the import of technology. A cess is a tax raised for a named purpose. The rate may be up to 5%.

The aim has two parts. One is to encourage the commercial use of technology made in India. The other is to adapt imported technology for wider use at home.

The money goes into a fund called the Fund for Technology Development and Application. TDB manages this fund.

Why tax imported technology? The idea is simple. Payments for foreign technology help pay for home-grown technology.

Common mistake: the 5% cess is not the 5% loan rate. The cess is a tax rate on technology import payments. The loan rate is the interest TDB charges a borrower. They are two different things.

2.2 How does the Fund grow?

• Grants come from the Government of India out of the cess collections.
• Income from investing the Fund is added to it.
• Money that borrowers repay is added to it.
• The Finance Act, 1999 allowed full income-tax deduction for donations to the Fund.

Why does repayment matter? Repaid loans refill the Fund. So the same rupee can help many projects over time.

TDB can help in three ways: loan, equity and grant. It does not charge any processing, administrative or commitment fee.

3.1 What are the three modes?

• Loan: a soft loan at 5% simple interest a year. It covers 50% of the project cost not yet spent. It is paid out in tranches, tied to technical and financial milestones. There is a one-year moratorium after the project ends. It is usually repaid in 9 monthly instalments.
• Equity: TDB puts in capital at the start-up or growth stage. This is up to 25% of the approved project cost. It must not exceed the capital the promoters have paid in.
• Grant: given to companies and research institutions in exceptional cases that serve the national interest.

What is a moratorium? It is a pause. The borrower does not repay during this time.

What is a tranche? It is one instalment of a loan. Money comes in parts, not all at once.

Why pay in tranches? TDB checks progress at each milestone. The company gets the next part only after the earlier step is done.

Common mistake: TDB is not mainly a grant-giver. Grants are for exceptional cases. Loan and equity are its usual tools.

3.2 What else does TDB do besides money?

TDB’s pages say it also does the following.

• It brings industry, scientists and technocrats together.
• It links projects with banks and other financial institutions.
• It helps new entrepreneurs grow.
• It helps create jobs.

Two TDB news items from July 2026 show the idea at work.

4.1 What is the Spirulina project?

On 16 July 2026, TDB gave financial help to K. N. Biosciences (India) Private Limited, Hyderabad. The project is titled “Production of C-Phycocyanin using Spirulina sp. as a Cell Factory”.

C-phycocyanin is a natural blue pigment. It is used in food, nutraceuticals, agriculture, aquaculture, poultry feed and biostimulants. The project aims to reduce India’s dependence on imported natural colorants.

Where did the technology come from? IIT Guwahati developed it. It uses an indigenous Spirulina strain, NCIM 5143. It reached the company through a Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreement. A ToT agreement is a formal deal that passes a lab’s technology to a company.

4.2 How is the pigment made?

The release describes a two-part process.

• Growing: Spirulina is grown by “controlled photoautotrophic cultivation”. In plain words, the algae grow using light and nutrients under set conditions.
• Extracting: a “green, solvent-free extraction” and a single-step purification follow.

The product is a stable, water-soluble blue powder. The release says it was benchmarked against commercial international standards. The project will set up commercial-scale production.

Why does “solvent-free” matter? Fewer chemicals mean less harm to the environment. The release also says the process cuts processing steps.

TDB Secretary Rajesh Kumar Pathak said such technologies show how research can create sustainable alternatives to imported specialty ingredients.

Common mistake: TDB did not develop the technology. IIT Guwahati did. TDB funded the step of taking it to commercial production.

4.3 What did TDB say about Skyroot?

On 19 July 2026, TDB congratulated Skyroot Aerospace on the success of its Vikram-1 mission. It called the mission a watershed moment for India’s private space sector.

TDB had given Skyroot the National Technology Start-up Award 2022. The award was for indigenous cryogenic, liquid and solid propulsion technologies for small-satellite launches.

TDB also said Skyroot has sent it a proposal under the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund. The proposal is under consideration.

Memory hook: recognise early, fund when ready. An award in 2022 came before a launch success in 2026.

Common mistake: a proposal under consideration is not a sanctioned grant. Do not write that TDB has funded Skyroot’s launch.