RDIF Funding: A Founder's Guide to India's ₹1 Lakh Crore R&D Fund

02How the money flows

RDIF is a two-tier fund of funds. The government sets the rules and the sectors. Professional fund managers pick the companies, through investment committees that ANRF does not appoint.

1. First level, the Special Purpose Fund. RDIF sits inside ANRF as custodian of the full corpus. Strategic direction comes from ANRF's Governing Board, which the Prime Minister chairs.
2. Second level, the fund managers. RDIF commits capital to selected Second Level Fund Managers (SLFMs). These are alternative investment funds (AIFs), development finance institutions, NBFCs and Focused Research Organisations (FROs).
3. Third level, the company. The manager evaluates your company through its own investment committee and funds you with debt, equity or both.

AIFs are the SEBI-registered pooled funds that venture and growth investors run. They receive RDIF money as a fund contribution, and the other managers mostly as concessional loans.

Three safeguards matter to founders.

• No ex-officio government members on the investment committee. The guidelines bar them, and bar ANRF's Executive Council from naming or approving committee members. The rule is narrower than it sounds: the Indian Express reports that TDB's committee has 21 private-sector members and one non-voting government representative.
• Three-stage manager approval. Every fund manager has to clear the RDIF management team, then ANRF's Executive Council, which the Principal Scientific Adviser chairs. Last comes the EGoS, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary.
• Reporting without a vote on deals. Managers report to RDIF within 60 days of each half-year and within 90 days of each financial year end. RDIF can audit any manager and visit funded companies, but it does not evaluate individual investment decisions.

The practical consequence: you pitch an RDIF-backed manager exactly the way you pitch any investor. The difference is that the manager now has a larger, cheaper and more patient pool to deploy, earmarked for companies like yours.

04The terms RDIF money comes on

RDIF capital is cheap and patient, but it normally funds at most half the bill. Everything else in the terms follows from that.

RDIF capital is cheap and patient, but it normally funds at most half the bill.

The 2-4% figure comes from the Minister of State for Science and Technology, at the launch of TDB's first call (PIB, 4 February 2026). The guidelines publish no rate, and RDIF prices each manager case by case. Treat it as a launch statement, not a term you can hold a manager to.

If you are weighing RDIF debt against a venture debt term sheet, our note on government soft loans and venture debt sets out that trade. If a manager offers convertible debt, read what conversion does to your cap table before you sign.

A worked example, for illustration. A battery-materials company needs ₹40 crore to take a validated cell chemistry from TRL 5 to a pilot line. RDIF money through a fund manager can cover up to ₹20 crore.

The founders must show where the other ₹20 crore comes from: a VC round, a strategic investor, internal accruals or commercial borrowing. A government grant does not count. If the RDIF money comes as equity in a ₹40 crore round, at most ₹20 crore of that round can be RDIF-sourced.

The match is the real gate. Without committed matching capital, a strong technology still stalls. Make the private half your first workstream.

06How to apply for RDIF money

There are two doors in: the public managers' open calls, and a normal investor pitch to an RDIF-backed fund. Neither goes through RDIF itself. Our application guide takes you through the steps and the documents.

Through a TDB or BIRAC open call

Both have run open calls for project proposals. TDB opened its first RDI call on 4 February 2026, for TRL 4 and above projects across all sectors. It received 124 proposals worth about ₹25,000 crore in the first three months.

TDB then stopped accepting applications after 30 September 2026, citing administrative reasons. Press reports link the pause to a funding gap. TDB says there is no shortage.

BIRAC opened its first national call the same month on biracrdif.org, for startups, SMEs and large companies. It co-invests ₹5 crore to ₹200 crore per company. Phase 1 closed on 31 March 2026, and BIRAC says evaluation is still in progress.

Neither body had announced a next call as of 15 October 2026. When one opens, expect to file a project proposal with clear deliverables and milestones, and a costed budget. Add evidence of TRL, your IP position and proof of the matching 50%.

Through a pitch to an RDIF-backed fund

The RDIF FAQs say companies approach these managers the same way they approach any investor. In practice:

1. Map which of the 19 cohort managers invest in your sector and stage.
2. Check their thesis, stage and cheque size against your round.
3. Pitch with a standard investment deck plus the RDIF evidence below.
4. Let their investment committee decide on its own timeline. RDIF sets no deadline for a manager's decision.

What will a manager screen for?

Parliament has been told that evaluation weighs innovation, TRL, commercialisation potential, market, team, implementation plan and strategic impact. In our experience, that becomes six things a manager will ask to see.

• TRL evidence. Test reports, prototype data and third-party validation. A self-assessment against NTRAF is a useful dry run.
• Defensible IP. Patents filed or granted, freedom to operate, and ownership held cleanly in the Indian entity.
• Manufacturability. A credible path to produce at a cost the market will pay.
• A real market. Named customers, pilots, letters of intent or procurement interest, especially in strategic sectors.
• The matching capital. Term sheets, board-approved internal funding or sanctioned debt for the other half.
• Eligibility hygiene. A cap table and shareholder agreements that prove resident-Indian control and an Indian headquarters.

08Are you RDIF-ready?

If most of these are true, you are ready to approach an RDIF manager. If not, the gaps are your next 90 days.

• Technology validated at TRL 4 or higher, with test data to prove it.
• A self-assessment done against NTRAF.
• A clear fit with a named RDIF priority sector.
• IP filed and owned by the Indian entity.
• Resident-Indian control and an Indian headquarters, evidenced in the cap table and shareholder agreement.
• A costed project plan with milestones and deliverables.
• The matching 50% identified from non-government sources: a term sheet, sanctioned debt or board-approved funds.
• A financial model showing how the debt is serviced or converts.
• Books, compliance and a data room that will survive diligence.

SRF is an independent advisory firm, not an RDIF fund manager. We work with deep-tech founders on the finance side of an RDIF raise. That means structuring the project and the capital stack, building the model and the repayment plan, and assembling the matching round.

We also prepare the data room and get you in front of the right managers, as part of our venture capital and private equity work. Talk to us before you apply, not after a rejection.

10Frequently asked questions

What is the RDI Fund (RDIF)?

It is a ₹1 lakh crore Special Purpose Fund, to be deployed over six years, that finances the commercialisation of technology at TRL 4 and above. An Independent Business Unit within ANRF manages it, with DST as nodal department. It lends and invests only through approved fund managers, never directly.

What does RDIF stand for?

Research, Development and Innovation Fund. It is the fund created under the Research, Development and Innovation Scheme, which the Cabinet approved on 1 July 2025. The Prime Minister launched it on 3 November 2025.

Does the RDI Fund give grants?

No. RDIF gives no grants and no short-term loans, only long-term loans, convertible debt and equity. A government grant cannot count toward the matching half either, because the match must be non-governmental. For grant money below TRL 4, look at schemes such as NIDHI PRAYAS.

Who are the RDI Fund managers?

As of October 2026 there are 21 approved fund managers. They are TDB and BIRAC, approved in January 2026, and a first cohort of 14 AIFs and 5 FROs approved in October 2026. All 21 are listed above. The 19 cohort managers deploy only after signing their agreements with RDIF.

What is the RDI Fund conflict-of-interest row about?

In August 2026 the Indian Express reported that 15 of the 22 companies in TDB's first round had investment links to seven selection-committee members. TDB rejects any wrongdoing and says members with a conflict recused themselves. Our expectation is closer diligence and stricter recusal on every manager's committee.

General guidance, current as of 15 October 2026. RDIF and each manager set the terms, and a manager's own term sheet beats anything written here.