In its first funding round (reported Aug 7, 2026), the Technology Development Board's 12-member Investment Committee approved ₹2,192 crore in soft loans to 22 private companies picked from 124 applicants under the ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund. Loans are collateral-free at roughly 2-4% interest for up to 15 years, covering up to 50% of project cost, for firms whose tech has reached TRL4 (lab-validated) stage.
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India's RDI Fund clears first ₹2,192 cr soft loans for 22 deep-tech startups
Why this matters for founders
Deep-tech founders in AI, space, semiconductors, robotics, clean energy or biotech should get their technology to TRL4 and apply through the TDB (under DST) for cheap, long-tenor, collateral-free growth capital instead of only chasing dilutive VC. Prepare validation data and project costings to compete in the next application round.
Source: Trak.in / NextIAS
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