The government is setting up a Rs 1,500 crore Technology Acquisition and Development fund for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) to help them access designs, patents , processes and technology . "A substantial part of this will go for acquisition of clean technology. The fund will help in transfer of designs ," MSME minister Virbhadra Singh said at an award function.

The government has identified 10 industries including pharmaceuticals, IT hardware, auto components, defence and aerospace and biotech for farming which would be taken up initially. The plan is to provide up to 15% of the project cost for purchase of plant and machinery . Alternatively, interest-free loan will be sanctioned for a period of five years, which will cover 50% of the acquisition or transfer cost of technology. To begin with, the maximum available funding will be Rs 3 crore and there will be slabs on the amount of funds that would be provided for each technology acquisition proposal .

Source: India Brand Equity Foundation
Date: September 03, 2011