The specific objectives of TIF programme are to:

• develop appropriate endogenous information capacities to support the R&D activities,
• support the production of local content and promote use of indigenous knowledge,
• promote information and knowledge networking at local, regional and national levels to facilitate flow and sharing of information resources,
• map the national S & T productivity in relation to the international trend,
• support education, training and R & D in digital content development and utilization, and
• promote national and international cooperation in related areas.

Indian capabilities have gained international recognition in the field of ICT, particularly in software development. India also has a large population of domain experts in every field of science and technology and almost all of them have adequate proficiency in English. This provides an enabling environment for content development to meet the national and international demands. However, this latent potential for content development is yet to be transformed into significant business opportunities. Non-availability of the requisite know-how including entrepreneurial and marketing capabilities is considered to be one of the major reasons for the current situation. Capacity development in the area of content development is therefore considered important and the institutions having the requisite infrastructure and technical competence would be assisted to take-up capacity building in content development. In particular, TIF would support specific projects on the following:

• Research and development in the content development, design and methodology
• Training and skill development programmes on all aspects of content development including the technical know-how, entrepreneurship and marketing, etc for scientists, students, retired specialists, house wives, etc
• Experimentation with technologies and systems for content development in Indian languages
• Surveys and studies for assessment of priorities in content development
• Setting up content development facilities leveraging the strengths of ICT, domain expertise and fresh young alumni

Although each research project is important for national development, the DSIR under its Industrial R&D and Technological Information Facilitation (TIF) Programme provides assistance only for those projects which have a direct relevance to the programme objectives. The activities listed in the previous sections and in particular information content related activities would be given priority in providing assistance under the programme.

Institutions Eligible for Assistance

Professional/research institutions with qualified engineers, scientists, information professionals, statisticians and economists and belonging to one of the following categories are eligible for assistance under the scheme.

• Institutions receiving annual recurring grants from the Central or State Government Agencies including the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Indian Universities, academic institutions, R&D institutions, Public Sector Undertakings, etc.
• Institutions registered as professional societies under the Societies Registration Act.
• Institutions incorporated under the Companies Act, and
• Professional & industry Associations.

Quantum of Financial Assistance and Method of Release

Assistance can be by way of financial support (partial or full) and technical guidance. The type of assistance required by the institution should be clearly indicated in the proposal. However, financial assistance will be provided only for meeting expenditure on Manpower, Equipment, Consumables, internal travel and other miscellaneous expenditure. No support is provided towards basic infrastructure and buildings. The assistance will be released on installments and will be linked to specific milestones to be achieved as per time schedule indicated in the proposal. The release would also be dependent on the completion of formalities like submission of progress reports, Statement of Expenditure and Utilization Certificates.

Submission of the Proposals

To facilitate quick processing, proposal should be prepared and submitted in the format prescribed in this document, to facilitate quick processing. The following documents/ papers are also required to be submitted along with the proposal.

Institutions, other than Government, are required to attach the following:

• A Copy of registration certificate
• A Copy of Annual report of last 3 years
• A Copy of the Auditor’s report of last 3 years

The proposal may be submitted any time during the Financial year. It would take about 3 months for the Department to take a final decision.

Duration of the Project

The project should be time-bound, normally for duration of less than 3 years.

Sanction of the Project and Release of Funds

The project proposals received for assistance would be considered by the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the Department. The Committee may also take the advice of an internal Screening Committee duly constituted for the purpose and/or the advice of external experts and/or the Department concerned with the subject matter. The proposals, which are accepted by the TAC, will be further processed for administrative/financial approval and sanction letter would be issued indicating the amount of assistance under different budget heads, schedule of payment and other conditions of assistance. The institutions receiving the assistance are then required to accept the conditions formally and sign a bond in a judicial stamp paper of Rupees Ten only or an MOU as the case may be. On signing the agreement and its submission, the first installment of assistance would be released.

Progress Reports and Utilisation Certificates

A quarterly progress report indicating the physical and financial progress of the project, and financial report has to be submitted by the institutions receiving assistance from the Department. The Principal Investigator must ensure that progress reports in the prescribed format ( Format D (RTF, File Size:34.13 KB)) reach the department by 15th of the month beginning every quarter. The institution is also required to submit a utilization certificate (Format E (RTF, File Size:13.28 KB) F (RTF, File Size:20.4 KB)) duly signed by the Head of the Institute/ Registrar of University in case of Government / Government affiliated bodies, universities and deemed universities while claiming second and subsequent installments. In case of other types organisations including NGOs, the utilization certificate will be certified by a Chartered Accountant for release of second and subsequent installments.

Dissemination of Project/ Study/Survey Reports

The DSIR will have the right to make available the copies of the project/ study/survey report to the users including Central and State Government agencies and the National Library. It may also place a summary of the report on its website. However, DSIR will not be responsible for the findings or opinions expressed in the report and the host institution, which prepares such report, will be responsible for the intellectual content and claims.

The host institution is also required to send the primary and secondary data collected as a part of the project to the Ministry in a CD and as an ASCII file or as any other commonly used database files.

The institution is also free to publish their study/survey report. However, it should be clearly acknowledged on the first page of the report/ document that the document has been prepared with financial support provided by the Department of scientific and Industrial Research. It should also contain a disclaimer that the Ministry is not responsible for the findings and opinions expressed in the document.

In the case of workshops/ seminars, the sponsors name Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has to be prominently displayed on the banners and any other documents like brochures, course work, workshop schedule, attendance certificates, reports, etc, prepared by the institution.

Other conditions of assistance

• The amount of assistance would be released in favour of the institution or university or the executing agency and not to the Project Director or the Researcher. Thus all sanctions of the Ministry will be issued in favour of the institution.
• After a project proposal is approved by DSIR, the Executing Agency shall not accept any new sponsor or obtain funds from agencies other than those from whom such funding was envisaged in the approved project proposal, except with the prior written permission of DSIR. Similarly, the share in the project cost of any other sponsor or the share of any collaborating agency(s) will not change from that agreed upon at the time the project was sanctioned, except with the prior written permission of DSIR.
• Evaluation of the performance of the project will be made periodically by DSIR for which Executive Agency will extend all necessary facilities and cooperation.
• On completion of the project, the executing agency shall submit to DSIR a detailed Completion Report (in duplicate) within 60 days of the conclusion of the project. This Report should be in two parts (i) Technical and (ii) Financial. The format of (i) should be finalized by the Executing Agency in consultation with DSIR, while (ii) should consist of a consolidated audited statement of accounts of the expenditure incurred by the Executive Agency from the DSIR project grant and Certificate of Utilization of all such amounts, along with a certificate from the auditors of the Executing Agency.
• The persons employed in the project shall belong to the host institution or shall be on an appropriate contract with the host institution. The conditions of their service will be governed in accordance with the rules and orders of the institution.The Government of India will in no way be responsible for the continuance of the services or absorption of such staff just because the Sponsor agrees to defray the part of the expenditure towards salaries and wages.
• The Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) reserves the right to terminate the grant at any stage if it is convinced that
  o the grant has not been properly utilized
  o appropriate progress has not been made and
  o the project is not being carried out as per the terms and conditions and/ or as per the nature and scope of the work as defined in the approved project proposal.
• International travel is not permissible under the project.
• The institution will provide the required infrastructure facilities like accommodation, furniture, computer, library, laboratory equipments, communication facilities and secretariat services. The overheads for providing these facilities will be normally 15% of the project cost or the percentage fixed by the Government from time to time.
• The Project Director and other experts mentioned in the project proposals should not be changed without the prior approval of the Ministry.
• For permanent and semi-permanent assets, acquired wholly or partly out of the grant, an audited record, in the form of a register shall be maintained by the Executing Agency. The term "assets" means: (i) all immovable property; and (ii) movable property of a capital nature where the value exceeds Rs 10,000/-. The grant will not be utilized for construction of any building or permanent asset like machinery required for augmenting general production facilities.
• All assets including equipment acquired and prototypes fabricated from the grant will be the property of Government of India and should not without the prior sanction of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, be disposed of, or utilized for purposes other than those for which the grant has been sanctioned.
• The Organization should maintain a separate account for the project. The grant should be kept in a bank account and the interest earned should be reported to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. The interest thus earned will be treated as a credit to the organization and will be adjusted towards further installments of the grant.
• The Controller and Audit General will have the right to access to the books of accounts of the organization for grants received from the government.
• If the Principal Investigator wishes to leave the organization where the project is based, the organization/ investigator will inform the same to DSIR and in consultation, evolve steps to ensure successful completion of the project, before relieving the project investigator. The Investigator should submit five copies of the complete and detailed report of the work done by them on the project before his/her leaving the organization.
• The know-how generated from the project would be the property of Government of India (GOI) and any receipts by way of sale of know-how, utilization of know-how for production, royalties, etc shall belong to GOI. The GOI may at its discretion allow a portion of such receipts to be retained by the organization.
• The institution receiving grants from the Government are governed by the General Financial Rules of the Government including auditing of the accounts.
• Submission of quarterly financial and physical progress reports to DSIR is obligatory on the part of the Project Director/ Investigator, failing which the Department has the right to terminate the project with full refund of amounts already disbursed.
• There should not be any time over-run at any stage and the project should be formulated accordingly. DSIR reserves the right to terminate project for time over-run without sufficient technical grounds.
• In case of non-compliance of terms and conditions as laid down in the sanction letter, the institution will have to return the entire money along with penal interest of 10% per annum.