TDB ties up with joint sector VC funds

Technology Development Board (TDB) formed by an Act of Parliament in 1996 to fund development and commercialisation of innovative technologies, has tied up with joint sector venture capital funds (VCF) recently as an additional investment instrument.

The funds include UTI Assets India, Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation VCF (APIDC-VCF), and UTI VCF.

TDB has invested around 15 to 20% of the fund size in each of these funds, said H Purushottam, scientist & advisor, TDB.

Three more tie-ups are on the anvil. These include Rajasthan VF, SICOM Venture Capital of Maharashtra, and Gujrat VF, informed Purushottam.

TDB disburses around Rs 70-80 crore worth of funds on an average every year; 30% of which go to drug, pharmaceutical and biotechnology projects, 20% to information & communication technology projects, and the rest to engineering, energy, and chemicals projects.

Around 68% of all TDB investments are in the form of soft loans, while nearly 19.7% is through VCF.