Technopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP)

If you are a budding non IT, non software entrepreneur or inventor and you need funds to finance your innovation, you must check this out. The Dept.of Scientific & Industrial Research, through a public advertisement, has invited applications from budding entrepreneurs or innovators to seek funding from the government for converting their ideas into working prototypes/models. Called the Technopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP), this is for promoting individual innovators to become technology entrepreneurs (technopreneurs).

The eligibility criteria for the programme are quite simple and uncomplicated. Any individual with an original idea/innovation, say- an engineer, scientist, farmer, artisan or even a housewife or a student can apply. Even companies can apply, provided their turnover does not exceed Rs. 10 lacs. The only requirement is that, the idea must have a commercial implication; it cannot be just for research or patenting purposes. The maximum amount of the sponsorship is 90% of the project cost or Rs 10 lacs, whichever is lower.

The government, since the inception of the program has sponsored more than 100 such ideas. Typically, the ideas tend to be industrial or scientific in nature and could be in fields as diverse as manufacturing, agriculture, medicine etc. Some previous examples include Micro-windmill generator, Solid Bio-mass Fired Furnace, Treatment of Pests in Cotton Fabrication of Portable X-ray Body Imaging Assembly et al.

Incidentally, the programme specifically filters out software development from its purview. It’s not too difficult to understand the rationale behind this exclusion. Industrial or scientific innovations in India are far more in need of funding than software startups; there is no dearth of funding for software entrepreneurs from VCs, seed funds, banks etc. Govt. programmes like STPI have mechanisms to nurture and incubate software startups. Besides, the IT industry anyway has a powerful godfather in NASSCOM, which has started influencing government policy quite significantly.The same is not true for industrial or scientific segments. A recent edition of the Business World has a lead story on how, some of the giants of Indian manufacturing like Larsen & Toubro are facing substantial exodus of their best manpower to the IT/software industry.

TePP seems to be well thought out. However, the government’s inefficiency is seldom due to the legislation or the lack of it; almost always, it is the implementation which is the culprit. One sincerely hopes that the process of filing applications, appearing before the committee and submitting arguments/documents in support of your claim is fast, fair and nonbeauracratic.