A dated capital-deployment ledger separating scheme authorisation, intermediary sanction, released capital and project decisions in India's Research, Development and Innovation financing programme.
*Historical observation: July 2025–July 2026 | Compiled 26 October 2026*
India Front's Budget 2026 Deep Tech audit frames the gap between public research financing and industrial use. The government's own later financing disclosure makes the next question examinable: how much of an announced funding structure has reached each distinct administrative stage?
The ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme is not a grant disbursed to companies at its launch. The Union Cabinet approved its six-year outlay on 1 July 2025; it was formally launched on 3 November 2025. The government describes financing primarily through long-term, low-interest loans, equity and equity-linked instruments—not grants.
The six separate records
Event or measurement
Record date
Verified figure/status
Authority and evidentiary limit
Event or measurement
Record date
Verified figure/status
Authority and evidentiary limit
Event or measurement
Record date
Verified figure/status
Authority and evidentiary limit
Event or measurement
Record date
Verified figure/status
Authority and evidentiary limit
Event or measurement
Record date
Verified figure/status
Authority and evidentiary limit
Event or measurement
Record date
Verified figure/status
Authority and evidentiary limit
| Event or measurement | Record date | Verified figure/status | Authority and evidentiary limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scheme approval | 1 July 2025 | ₹1 lakh crore outlay over six years | Cabinet authorisation; neither annual expenditure nor cash received by companies |
| Formal launch | 3 November 2025 | Programme launched | Implementation milestone; does not prove financing of individual projects |
| Intermediary-level sanction | Status in parliamentary reply, 29 July 2026 | ₹1,000 crore each sanctioned to TDB and BIRAC; ₹2,000 crore total | Authority to channel support to two named Focused Research Organisations; not a measure of cash paid to end recipients |
| Intermediary disbursement | March 2026, reported 29 July | ₹500 crore disbursed to TDB | Cash released to intermediary for onward financing; not necessarily disbursed to investees |
| TDB project decisions | Reported 29 July 2026 | 22 approved projects; ₹4,744 crore total project cost; ₹2,192 crore indicated RDI support | Project-level approvals/commitments; different measure and timing from ₹500 crore transferred to TDB |
| BIRAC project pipeline | Reported 29 July 2026 | 8 shortlisted projects involving ₹390.35 crore | Shortlisting is not sanction or expenditure; described amount cannot be added to disbursement |
The ₹2,192 crore TDB support associated with approved projects exceeding the ₹500 crore intermediary transfer does not establish a discrepancy. They describe decisions and cash releases at different stages. Project approvals and cash transfers occur at different financing stages. The cited public answer provides no final beneficiary-level disbursement schedule.
Findings supported by the figures
Authorised: ₹1 lakh crore is the multi-year scheme envelope.
Sanctioned: ₹2,000 crore was sanctioned to the two named organisations as at the cited reply.
Disbursed to an intermediary: ₹500 crore reached TDB in March 2026 for onward financing.
Approved at project level: TDB approved specified project commitments within projects whose total costs include funding from multiple sources, not only the RDI Fund.
Shortlisted: BIRAC's 8 cases are an earlier decision stage than approved funding.
None of the figures establishes how much money a named recipient company drew down, whether a funded prototype entered qualified production or whether the projects generated commercial revenue.
Investment follow-through record
Missing evidence
Why it matters
Proper owner
Missing evidence
Why it matters
Proper owner
Missing evidence
Why it matters
Proper owner
Missing evidence
Why it matters
Proper owner
Missing evidence
Why it matters
Proper owner
| Missing evidence | Why it matters | Proper owner |
|---|---|---|
| Beneficiary-level signed agreements | Establishes enforceable financing terms and release conditions | Fund manager and recipient |
| Actual drawdowns to end recipients | Distinguishes project commitments from financed work | Fund manager/public scheme reporting |
| Milestone achievement | Shows technical progress with scope and qualification | Recipient and independent technical evaluator |
| Commercial validation | Shows accepted product, licensing or industrial uptake | Customer and project owner |
| Recoveries and losses | Identifies longer-term financial outcome | Fund manager and oversight institutions |
This Layer does not recommend allocation of RDI money or rank projects. Its independent value is a dated audit of the units and stages in which public RDI financing is reported.
Intelligence finding: The ₹1 lakh crore authorisation, intermediary sanction, cash released to TDB, approved project support and BIRAC shortlisting were all documented by July 2026; they cannot be added or substituted to estimate private-sector cash deployment.
Origin and provenance
Developed from *Budget 2026: Converting Science Capital into Industrial Sovereignty* (Rishi Vora, 5 February 2026). The parent argues for industrial conversion of science finance; this Layer separates actual financing statuses disclosed in July 2026. It is not an October 2026 real-time financial dashboard, and later releases may alter the figures.
Parent: https://indiafront.co.in/budget-2026-deep-tech-science-capital-industrial-sovereignty Primary Ministry of Science & Technology parliamentary reply, 29 July 2026: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2291143&lang=1®=1 Companion reply, 23 July 2026: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2288307&lang=1®=48