Draft Project Report

Draft Project
Report on
“Electronics
Development
Fund” (EDF)
Department of
Information Technology
Ministry of Communications and

Information Technology
Project Report on
“Electronics Development Fund” (EDF)
1. Background and Context
1.1 India has become a global power house in software and software services sector.
However, it lags behind in Electronics Systems Design and Manufacturing (ESDM)
capabilities. The objective to transform India into a global destination in electronics goods, to
meet the fast-increasing domestic demand and global demand. However, there are multiple
challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, tax structure, supply chain and logistics,
inflexible labor laws, limited R&D focus, funding, limited value addition focus and exports.
1.2 Electronics, reported at USD 1.75 Trillion is the largest and fastest growing
manufacturing industry in the world. It is expected to reach USD 2.4 Trillion by 2020. The
demand in the Indian market was USD 45 Billion in 2008-09 and is expected to reach USD
400 Billion by 2020. The growth of domestic production at a CAGR of 22% is expected to be
driven by surge in income levels, the aspiration value of electronics goods, the demand from
resurgent corporate sector and the government‟s focus on e-governance. The domestic
production in 2008-09 was about USD 20 Billion. However, the gross Manufacturing Value
Addition was very low, anecdotally between 5 to 10 percent. This implies that out of the
demand of USD 45 Billion, between USD 1-2 Billion was value added in the country and rest
was imported Unless the situation is corrected, it may be that by 2020, the electronics import
may exceed oil imports.
1.3 The development of ESDM sector is both important and essential due to economic and
strategic reasons. The domestic production in ESDM is projected to reach USD 100 Billion by
2020 at present levels. This can be expanded to USD 400 Billion by 2020, with nearly 20
percent contribution to the GDP. This can lead to generation of significant employment
Electronic Development Fund Page 1

opportunities. The sector can employ nearly 27.8 million people, directly and indirectly, with an
expanded production of USD 400 Billion. Unless a focused intervention is made, the import of
electronics in expected to increase to 16% of India‟s GDP and the trade imbalance is
projected to reach USD 323 Billion by 2020. On the other hand, through suitable policy
framework and initiatives, India has an opportunity to export electronics hardware. India has
acquired over time, a reliable and trusted brand in software and software services sector and
also in semi-conductor chip design. The ESDM industry can leverage this brand. As software
applications and embedded software are integral part of most electronics products, India‟s
strengths in its software sector can be niche for development of the ESDM sector in India.
1.4 Even more important to develop the sector are the strategic reasons. Electronics
permeates in all sectors of economy and therefore has great strategic importance.
Compromised electronic hardware with malware or other snooping features can have serious
strategic implications for defense and security. Similarly, civil applications, say telecom,
railways, civil aviation, power supply, etc., can be brought to a halt through malware. The
strategic implications command immediate development of domestic ESDM capacities in the
sector. For a country of the size of India, it is inevitable that domestic capabilities are
developed up to the chip level so as to be in a position to address such risks.
1.5 A major characteristic of the ESDM sector is the importance of R&D and innovation
due to velocity of technology change. The half-life of technologies has been continuously
reducing. For some products the product life has been even less than six months as new
products cannibalise earlier versions. The famous Moore‟s law, which predicted doubling of
chip capabilities every 18 months or so holds after nearly four decades demonstrates the
kind of innovation that has been happening in the sector. Semiconductor wafer chips clearly
demonstrate the importance of R&D and innovation in the sector. Intellectual Property is
possibly the most critical determinant of success for any chip company. Strength of the IP

position of a foundry can lead to a drastic competitive advantage and significant gains in
market share. TSMC‟s had a total IP product offering of 2,914 in 2010, Global Foundries had
1321. A study by ISA-Keystone in 2011 postulates that Larger IP offering leads to greater
market share and revenue.
1.6 Not only in semiconductor chip, but in product design also, innovation has been the
key differentiator. The Apple iphone and iPad are typical examples. Convergence of devices,
applications and technologies is also happening through innovation. The tablet PC, a
converged device between a phone and a PC is one recent example.
1.7 The fast pace of technological change, the importance of IP are characteristic of the
ESDM sector. Therefore, to be able to compete in this globally integrated sector, it is
essential that a strong and vibrant R&D and innovation eco-system be created in the country
in the ESDM sector.
1.8 One of the strengths in the sector is the emerging semiconductor chip design and
product design industry. According to a study by ISA and Ernst and Young, the VLSI design,
board/hardware design and embedded software development, was estimated at USD 6.5
Billion in 2009 and is expected to log a compound annual growth rate of 17.3% over the next
three years to reach USD 10.6 billion in 2012. Further that the top 25 global semiconductor
companies now have a presence in India through their captive centers, working in cutting
edge technology nodes. The number of MNC employees working at their respective R&D
centers in India has increased from 16,000 in 2000 to 180,000 in 2009, growing at a CAGR
of 30.9%. This number is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% to reach 319,000 in
2015. Out of the total India engineering R&D spends of USD 7.9 Billion, investment in the
semiconductor space is estimated at nearly 19% of the total. The number of patents filed by
India operations of companies such as Texas Instruments (TI), ST Microelectronics (STM),
Intel and Broadcom Corporation between 2005 and 2009 is 181, 120, 54 and 51,

respectively. On the other hand, China also had approximately 16,000 MNC personnel
employed at R&D centers in 2000. This has increased to 130,000 in 2009, growing at a
CAGR of approximately 26%. Thus, India is ahead of China in terms of the R&D initiatives
that MNCs in the countries are adopting. However, even though these countries are
responsible for a significant part of the R&D being done, the actual IP is owned by global
companies and thereby the benefits accrue to the countries of their origin.
1.9 Though significant growth of R&D and design work happens in India, the real value is
not derived in the country. The availability of risk capital from the banks/ venture capital (VC)
companies/other financing institutions is limited, if any. The focus of VCs on India is more on
infrastructure and IT/ITeS service companies and not on R&D, innovation and IP creation.
As a result the startups in the design industry do not have an ecosystem in which they can
grow. These start-ups need Angel funds and other early-stage funding support, which is
highly risk oriented and is largely lacking.
1.10 It is also relevant to note that ESDM is a meta-sector, which underlies
technological/IT applications in practically all sectors of economy, whether education, health,
agriculture, defense, atomic energy, space. Etc. For the benefit of ready understanding,
some of the major electronic products are mentioned. These include telecommunication
equipment, including modems, routers, BTS, DSLAMs, Carrier Ethernet, IP PBX, Media
Gateway, DWDM, GPON; mobile handsets; broadcast equipment including transmission
stations, set top boxes, and head ends; consumer electronics including TVs, microwave
ovens, home theatres, DVDs, blu-rays, digital cameras and camcorders, refrigerators,
washing machines, air-conditioners, water purifiers, media players, induction cook tops;
automotive electronics including, capacitor discharge ignition, flashers, regulators,
instrument clusters for 2 and 4 wheelers, 2 and 4 wheeler electronic switching and lighting,
power windows, electronic control unit, engine monitoring system, electric vehicle, IT and
office automation, including desktops and laptops, notebooks and net books, servers,

printers, keyboards, monitors, USBs, memory cards, CCTV and surveillance cameras,
ATMs; industrial electronics including, inverters, UPS online and offline, stabilizers and
power supplies, Led lighting, CFL lighting, energy meters, Variable Frequency Drives,
weighing scales, smart cards, Space, Atomic energy, Defense, Avionics, medical electronics
including imaging equipment, therapeutic equipment, home care equipment, patient
monitoring; solar photovoltaic; electronic components including, active components like
transistors, diodes etc, passive components like resistors, capacitors etc., electro-
mechanical components like switches, relays etc., associate components like antenna,
ferrite etc..
2 Problems to be addressed.
2.1 The problem statement has emerged from the recommendations of the following
i. Recommendations of the High Level Committee Report on ESDM submitted to Prime
Minister in 2010.
ii. Recommendations of the Task Force set up by the Department of Information
Technology in 2009.
iii. Draft National Policy on Electronics released in October 2011.
iv. Draft National Telecom Policy, released in October 2011.
Recommendations of the High Level Committee Report on ESDM
2.2 A High Level Committee comprising of Dr. V Krishnamurthy, Chairman, National
Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC),v Dr. Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime
Minister for Public Infrastructure, Information and Innovation, Member Secretary-NMCC,
Secretary- IT and Secretary-Telecom had submitted a report to the Prime Minister in 2010,
for the fast-track growth of the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM)
sector. The Committee made five key recommendations in their report:

i. Set up Semiconductor Wafer Fabs for manufacture of Chips in India and Indian
Microprocessor Design initiatives
ii. Create policies for preferential access to “Manufactured-in-India”/”Indian Products”
electronics goods for all government procurements and procurement by Govt. Licensees.
iii. Set up a dedicated “Electronic Development Fund”
iv. Set up of a National Electronics Mission (NEM)
v. Encourage manufacture of specific high priority electronic product lines in India by
providing capital grant and creation of electronic manufacturing clusters.
2.3 Two of the specific recommendations made by the committee regarding “Electronic
Development Fund” and “Indian Microprocessor” have direct relevance to the proposal
being developed. These are reproduced below:
1) “There is an urgent need for intervention to promote and develop innovation,
R&D, Indian IPR and manufacturing within the country for electronic products,
which include telecom products, especially those having security implications.
It is proposed to create a dedicated ‘Electronic Development Fund’ with an
initial corpus of Rs. 5,000 crore for Innovations, R&D, IPR and product
development and promotion of electronics equipment manufacturing. This
fund would also support seed, angel and venture funding. The fund may be
leveraged to acquire foreign companies so as to shift the production of
products currently imported in large volumes, into the country. Some of the
PSUs which are well positioned may take a lead role and venture into such
acquisitions. The fund would be managed professionally and accessible to
both Government and private sector.”
2) “To take up a major program for design and fabrication of an Indian
Microprocessor. This would have multiple benefits such as (i) elimination /
reduction of licence fee / royalty paid by the country for using foreign
microprocessor core (ii) develop systems for critical installation with enhanced

security. While the development of microprocessor is likely to cost around Rs.
1000 crores, the detailed costing for the complete ecosystem needs to be
worked out, which is expected to be around Rs. 5000 crores.”
Recommendations of the Task Force to stimulate the ESDM sector
2.4 An industry led Task Force, headed by Shri Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman, HCL
Infosystems was set up the Department of Information Technology in 2009 to suggest
measures to stimulate the IT/ITES and the ESDM sector. The Task Force made
comprehensive set of recommendations to suggest measures to stimulate the growth of
ESDM in India. Among others, it recommended the following which are relevant in the
context of stimulating R&D and innovation in the Electronics System Design and
Manufacturing (ESDM) sector. Some of these recommendations demand direct action with
regards to strengthening the R&D and innovation ecosystem in ESDM sector. Other
recommendations, by implication, require that the said eco-system be strengthened.
2.5 The recommendations demanding direct action to improve the R&D and innovation
ecosystem in ESDM sector include the following. The large numbers of recommendations
by the Task Force reflect the importance of R&D and innovation in the sector.
i. Creation of a R&D fund: A fund may be created to incentivize R&D, where the
government and the industry bodies are stake holders.
ii. Offer R&D grants to companies that generate product revenues from the country and
have substantial local value addition done from within the country.
iii. Creation of a Manufacturing Value Addition Fund: A separate fund may also be
created to provide interest-linked subsidy to promote value added manufacturing and create
products for India.
(1) To enable the industry access funds at internationally competitive rates, a
manufacturing value addition fund (in the form of interest subsidy fund) may

be created to promote domestic value addition. The fund may be used to
provide financial assistance in the following manner.
(2) Provision of interest subsidy linked to value addition.
(3) Provision of interest subsidy linked to increasing the local content of Bill of
Material (BOM)
iv. Set aside a seed fund of INR 2, 500 million (equivalent to USD55 million) to support
technology and innovation focused start-ups in products/technology space at their seed
stage.
v. Set aside a fund of INR 1, 000 million (equivalent to USD20 million) to provide
multiplier grants for collaborative research programs between industry and academia in the
areas related to semiconductors and electronics.
vi. The government should encourage incubating Indian start-ups. The government may
set up a focused venture fund of around USD50 million to provide seed and start-up capital
for new ventures to undertake R&D and product development.
vii. Creation of a fund to provide fiscal support to SMEs and MSMEs on a continual
basis.
viii. Development of a proper framework for technology transfer and collaboration within
India as well as globally to obtain the best available technology as well as provide direction
to future R&D.
ix. Equity funds/Venture funds should be created to nurture solar PV start-ups and seed
funds for solar PV research projects.
x. Create pockets of excellence or clusters to promote the manufacture of electronic
components in India. These clusters will create scale, provide R&D and testing facilities,
develop skill as well as address infrastructure challenges.
xi. Government support for pre-competitive electronics collaborative research program
in the areas of energy, medical, security, education and agriculture.
xii. Initiatives need to be undertaken to promote innovation in R&D and product design.
Creation of local IP should be encouraged.

xiii. Collaborative research among government, R&D institutions and industry
xiv. Commercialization of developed technology
xv. Development of a proper framework for technology transfer and collaboration within
to future R&D
xvi. Focus on R&D and value-added products: Focus on R&D and development of value-
added products to distinguish India from other countries. There is a need to identify specific
products where India„s cost competitiveness exists and encourage domestic manufacturing.
xvii. Encourage collaboration with international players: Rapid innovations in
manufacturing technologies require significant capital investments. The collaboration of
Indian manufacturers with international players is essential to provide access to technical
knowledge and capital. Such collaboration will ensure higher standards of quality in
manufacturing, leading to greater acceptability in the global market.
xviii. Establish „National Electronics Mission‟: to interalia,
(1) R&D fund management
(2) Manufacturing value addition fund management
xix. Facilitate setting up of „Center for Research in Embedded Systems and
Semiconductor Technology‟ (CREST).
xx. The government can subsidize acquisition of EDA tools by start-ups and other SMEs
in this sector. Prototype development centres with adequate fabrication facilities can be
setup.
2.6 There are other recommendations which cannot be fulfilled unless there is a
strong and vibrant R&D and innovation system in the country. These include the following. :
i. Recommended that 30% of the demand must be met by products made in
India if they are technically and commercially competitive for government
procurements.

ii. Using products made in India to execute national projects such as National
Knowledge Network, Rural Broadband and Common Service Centers (CSC).
iii. Using products made in India as part of bi-lateral trade and providing trade-in
grants in the form of the products.
iv. Government can encourage the use of products made in India for
developmental initiatives such as e-governance plan, UID, SSA and R-
APDRP.
v. National projects (National Knowledge Network, Rural Broadband and so
forth) should be executed using Indian products.
Recommendations in the draft National Policy on Electronics, 2011
2.7 The draft National Policy on Electronics 2011 was released recently by the
Government with a vision to create a globally competitive electronics design and
manufacturing industry to meet the country's needs and serve the international market. The
draft Policy which reflects the Government thinking of how it proposes to achieve this vision
shows a strong emphasis on development of R&D and innovation capabilities in this sector.
The specific Missions proposed to achieve the said vision highlight the need for a vibrant
and sustainable ecosystem of R&D, design and engineering and innovation in ESDM without
which it may not be possible to be competitive in this rapid changing technology sector.
Some of the Missions which bring out the underlying essential need for extremely vibrant
R&D and innovation eco-system are listed below.
Mission of draft National Policy on Electronics, 2011 emphasize R&D and Innovation
1. Promotion of a vibrant and sustainable ecosystem of R&D, design and engineering and
innovation in Electronics
2. Development of high-quality electronic products at affordable prices for inclusive adoption
and deployment to improve productivity, efficiency and ease of operations in other sectors.
3. Promotion of environmentally friendly global best practices in the use and disposal of

electronic products.
4. Development of capacities for manufacture of strategic electronics within the country.
2.8 This underlying need for strong R&D and innovation for ESDM sector is further stressed
in the objectives of the National Policy on Electronics, 2011. Specifying goals and targets for
the sector, the draft National Policy on Electronics, 2011 states that:
a) To become a global leader in creating Intellectual Property (IP) in the ESDM sector
by increasing fund flow for R&D, seed capital and venture capital for start-ups in the
ESDM and nanoelectronics sectors.
b) To use technology to develop electronic products catering to domestic needs and
conditions at affordable price points.
c) To develop core competencies in sectors like automotive, avionics, industrial,
medical, solar, Information and Broadcasting etc through use of ESDM in these
sectors.
d) To create long-term partnerships between ESDM industry and strategic sectors like
Defence, Space, and Atomic Energy etc.
e) To significantly enhance availability of skilled manpower in the ESDM sector. Special
focus for augmenting post graduate education and to produce about 2500 PhDs
annually by 2020.
f) To create an eco-system for a globally competitive ESDM sector in the country to
achieve a turnover of about USD 400 Billion by 2020
g) To build on the emerging chip design and embedded software industry to achieve
global leadership in VLSI, chip design and other frontier technical areas and to
achieve turnover of USD 55 Billion by 2020.
h) To increase the export in ESDM sector from USD 5.5 Billion to USD 80 Billion by
2020.

2.9 Furthermore, the strategies to achieve these objectives have also been detailed in the
draft Policy. Some of the relevant strategies have been reproduced below:
i. To create an Electronic Development Fund to promote Innovation and IP and R&D,
commercialization of products, etc. in the ESDM, nanoelectronics and IT sectors by
providing appropriate funding/incentives to industry/Academic/R&D institutions.
(a) To facilitate IP development by Indian industry, academic and R&D institutions.
(b) To set up a “Fund of Funds” to create need based “Daughter Funds” for various
innovation and manufacturing stages. All Funds to be professionally managed.
(c) To given special thrust to innovation and R&D for Green Technologies, Convergence
and Broadband technologies.
(d) To promote entrepreneurship in ESDM sector in active collaboration with Industry,
Industry Associations and Academia by ensuring availability of Angel Funds and
Venture Capital Funds.
(e) To set up VLSI specific Incubation Centres in four different cities in the country in
association with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)/Academic
Institutions/Industry.
(f) To design and develop India Microprocessor for diverse specific/strategic
applications
ii. To create a specific thrust within Electronic Development Fund for the development
of IPR and electronics products in green technologies
iii. To develop Centre of excellence/expertise in ESDM for sectors such as
a. Automotive Electronics
b. Avionics
c. LED
d. Industrial Electronics
e. Medical Electronics
f. Solar Photovoltaics
g. Information and Broadcasting
Recommendations in the draft National Telecom Policy, 2011

2.10 As in the draft National Policy on Electronics, 2011, the Draft National Telecom Policy
2011, which was recently released by the Government also emphasizes on the need for
R&D, innovation, development of indigenous telecom equipment. In the telecom sector,
building domestic capacities is also extremely important from the strategic perspective. This
focus on the need for R&D and innovation is brought out in the Mission proposed in the draft
National Telecom Policy, 2011, which interalia provides that:
Draft National Telecom Policy 2011 - Mission

1. To promote Research and Development and Product Developments in cutting edge
ICTE technologies and services for meeting the domestic security needs and worldwide
market.
2. To promote development of new standards and generation of IPRs to make India a
leading nation in the area of telecom standardization, especially among Asia Pacific
countries.
3. Make India a global hub for telecom equipment manufacturing and provisioning of
converged communication services.
2.11 The objectives and strategies to achieve these objectives have also been detailed in
the draft National Telecom Policy, 2011. These objectives and strategies also underscore
the need for how the R&D and innovation eco-system is proposed to be developed in this
sector. The relevant strategies required to achieve the objective of promoting indigenous
R&D, commercialisation of products/services have been reproduced below from the Policy:
Objective Strategies
Create corpus to promote To promote synergy of academia, R&D centres,

indigenous R&D, IPR creation, manufacturers, service providers, and other
entrepreneurship, manufacturing, stakeholders for achieving collaboration and
commercialising and deployment reorientation of their efforts for creation of IPRs,
of state-of-the-art telecom development and deployment of new products and
products and services during the services suited to Indian environment.
12th five year plan period.
To harness India‟s entrepreneurial energy and

intellectual capital for the cause of R&D and
manufacturing.
To encourage the young entrepreneurs by making

available needed funding (pre-venture and venture
capital), management and mentoring support.
To assist entrepreneurs to develop and commercialize

Indian products.
To strengthen the links in the complete value chain from

basic research to IPR generation, product design and
development, product commercialization, and
simultaneously achieving economies of scale, thereby
enabling the product to compete internationally.
To create fund to promote indigenous R&D, IPR

creation, entrepreneurship, manufacturing,
commercialising and deployment of state-of-the-art
telecom products and services. Emphasis will be given
to creation of Indian IPRs which go into international
standards as well as in product manufacturing in
implementation of major programs and projects as a
vehicle to develop Brand India.
To support Electronic Design and Manufacturing

Clusters for design, development and manufacture of
telecommunication equipment.
To create suitable testing infrastructure not only for

carrying out conformance testing and certification, but
also to aid in development of new products and
services. These state-of-the-art labs/infrastructure would
be suitably positioned in vicinity of strong R&D clusters
and academic institutions and make them available to
engineering/academic institutions to assist the scholars
in real time telecom product development.

3. Objectives
3.1 The main objectives of the project is to provide support for developing an ecosystem
for strong and vibrant R&D and innovation in the ESDM sector in the country. This DPR lays
out the roadmap for setting up an “Electronic Development Fund”. It will, among other
things, also provide for funds required for developing an “Indian Microprocessor”.
3.2 Specifically, the Electronic Development Fund is proposed with the following
objectives:
i. To promote Innovation and IP and R&D, commercialization of products, etc. in the
ESDM, nano-electronics and IT sectors by providing appropriate funding/incentives to
Industry/Academic/R&D institutions.
ii. To facilitate IP development by Indian industry, academic and R&D institutions.
Iii To design and develop India Microprocessor for diverse specific/strategic
applications
iv. To use technology to develop electronic products catering to domestic needs and
conditions at affordable price points.
v. To develop core competencies in sectors like telecommunication, IT, automotive,
avionics, industrial, medical, solar, Information and Broadcasting etc through use of ESDM in
these sectors.
vi. Development of a proper framework for technology transfer and collaboration within
to future R&D.
vii. To harness India‟s entrepreneurial energy and intellectual capital for the cause of
R&D and manufacturing in active collaboration with Industry, Industry Associations and
Academia

viii. To set up Incubation Centres in different cities in the country in association with
Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)/Academic Institutions/Industry. Subsidize
acquisition of EDA tools by start-ups and other SMEs in this sector.
ix. Prototype development centres with adequate fabrication facilities can be setup.
x. Facilitate setting up of „Center for Research in Embedded Systems and
Semiconductor Technology‟ (CREST).
xi. To encourage the entrepreneurs by making available needed funding (pre-venture
and venture capital), management and mentoring support and to assist entrepreneurs to
develop and commercialize Indian products
xii. To strengthen the links in the complete value chain from basic research to IPR
generation, product design and development, product commercialization, and
simultaneously achieving economies of scale, thereby enabling the product to compete
internationally.
xiii. To support Electronic Design and Manufacturing Clusters for design, development
and manufacture of all electronic products including telecommunication equipment.
4. Beneficiaries
4.1 The target beneficiaries who would in turn contribute to the accelerated growth of the
Electronics Industry to achieve the objectives are as under:
 Government and private sector companies and institutions
 Start up, early and growth stage companies who would benefit from seed,
venture and growth stage funding
 Micro, small and medium enterprises
 Larger established corporates
 Scientific and research / educational institutions, including private educational
institutes

4.2 The project will lead to development of ESDM industry in India. The objective is to
achieve a turnover of around USD 400 billion by 2020, involving an investment of about USD
100 Billion and employment to nearly 28 million people at different levels. A large number of
rural youth with High School level education and suitable training in ITI or similar institution
will get employed in the industry. The setting up of Electronic Development Fund is integral
to achieving the said objectives. The ESDM sector will be a significant contributor to the
GDP.
4.3 The proposed project would directly benefit the ESDM sector by providing necessary
funding for taking up R&D and innovation for new products and technologies of commercial
importance by industry/academia and institutions. It will provide necessary catalyst to attract
necessary risk capital in the domain of R&D and innovation and its commercialization. It will
help create IP wealth in the ESDM sector, which would help make India a global destination
for electronic products.
4.4 The project would benefit the academic institutions, particularly Universities,
engineering colleges, polytechnics, ITIs and other institutions producing skilled manpower
for the sector by providing greater and superior employment opportunities for their graduates
in the ESDM sector. It will also help attract greater number of skill development institutions
to set up training facilities in the sector.
4.5 One of the biggest beneficiaries will be the ESDM industry itself. In this regard,
necessary proposals of the industry-led Task Force have been taken into consideration for
developing the project. Initial discussions were held before the formulation in which all major
industry associations in the ESDM sector participated. Some leading academic institutions
and experts from the field, apart from relevant Government Departmental officers also
participated. The draft Project Report would be further presented to all stakeholders for
further discussion and refining the proposals contained therein.

5. Project Strategy
5.1 To develop the project strategy, the experience of some other countries which have
attempted to develop the R&D and innovation ecosystem was studied. The same is
discussed in succeeding paragraphs. More specifically, we deal with the experiences of
Israel, Korea and Taiwan, three countries with very strong ESDM industry.
Israel
5.2 The Israeli government‟s Yozma programme is an example of an extremely
successful initiative which not only launched the private capital into the electronics hardware,
but also led to creating a huge R&D and innovation ecosystem for the country. It also
created a solid base for a competitive Venture Capital (VC) industry with critical mass; a
network which enabled entrepreneurs in Israel to learn from foreign limited partners; and to
acquire a network of international contacts. Yozma was started as a $100M Government
owned Venture Capital fund (with the same name) oriented to two functions: a) fund of
funds- investment in 10 private VC funds ('Yozma Funds'-$80M); and b) direct investments
in high tech companies-$20M (through the Government –owned 'Yozma Venture Fund'). The
result was establishment of domestic, private VC industry that invested in young Israeli high
tech startups („early phase investments”) with the support of government and with the
involvement of reputable foreign financial institutions (generally a foreign private equity or
venture capital company). Each Yozma fund was managed by an independent, Israeli VC
Management Company. It would have to engage one such foreign institution together with a
well-established Israeli financial institution. This emphasizes the point that the Yozma
program favoured entry of professional managers or of individuals with VC-related abilities.
Moreover, the insistence on formal organizations as a pre-condition to become a Yozma
fund, suggests that its initiators understood the significant role of institutions in the process
of learning, generating capabilities and reputation. In an approved fund that fulfilled these
conditions, the Government would invest 40% (up to $8M) of the funds raised. Thus $100M

of Government Funds would draw $150M of private sector funds (domestic and foreign).
These “sibling” funds were the backbone of a now vibrant community that invested in excess
of $1 billion in Israel in 1999. Yozma did not simply provide capital and risk sharing
incentives to investors-- as was common in other Government VC support programs; its
main incentive was in the „upside‟-- each Yozma fund had a call option on Government
shares, at cost (plus 5-7% interest) for a period of five years.
5.3 The Yozma programme invested primarily into start-ups / early stage companies. The
Yozma funds invested in over 200 startup companies.” Also, immigrants played a key role in
development of technology and combined with Israel‟s strategic relationship with the US and
its own military technology development programme, led to the formation of a successful
combination.
Korea
5.4 The Korean government‟s initiatives in infrastructure development, investment in
developing the educational institutions and R&D have gone a long way in nurturing its
electronics Industry. An important factor in this development can be traced to the continuous
investment in the R&D and training the talents. The government provides up to 50% of the
total R&D expenditures when private industrial institutes are involved in national R&D
projects for core and fundamental technology development. Also, the government provides
financial support of up to 80% -90% of the total cost to individuals or small firms to help
commercialize new technology. Government-owned corporations such as the Korea
Telecommunication Corporation (KTC), etc., extend financial support of up to 80% of their
total R&D investment to relevant R&D centers to develop indigenous R&D products. Venture
capital institutions offer comprehensive financial support to private companies' technology
development activities.

5.5 A 1997 WTEC report on Korean Electronics Industry states that “the government and
chaebols have worked both independently and in concert to obtain foreign technology from
industrialized nations through direct and indirect methods. However, their ultimate goal is for
the country to transition from "investment-driven" development to "innovation-driven"
development in which the country's major competitive advantage will be innovation
capability. This drive permeates the industry. In striving to emulate the electronics expertise
of Japan and the United States, Koreans are zealously improving their educational
infrastructure and domestic R&D facilities.” Apart from tax and other financial incentives, the
Korean government has funded infrastructure development, including highways and
transportation systems, rapid dissemination of Internet-type services, etc., and through
construction of "science parks.”
5.6 In terms of human resources, Korean universities were highly rated. Korean
engineers had a long history of success in the U.S. and Silicon Valley in particular. In
regards to technology, Korea, very early, understood the importance of electronics and
developed strong capabilities across a number of important sectors. In the early 1990s, it
was clear that the Korean electronics industry was technically more sophisticated than that
of Taiwan. Finally, the government was interested in assisting SMEs in upgrading their
technologies and understood the importance of research and transferring technology from
public research institutions to the private sector. The government did establish venture
capital firms and had sufficient capital to provide early venture capitalists with subsidies.
Taiwan
5.7 The Taiwanese government‟s technical and financial assistance by creating an
institution for developing expertise and transferring it to the private sector played a major
part in Taiwan‟s rise in semiconductor manufacturing. Two main centres of incubation exist
at the Institute for Information Industry (III) and the Industrial Technology Research Institute

(ITRI). III was incorporated in 1979, through the joint efforts of public and private sectors, as
a Non-Government Organization (NGO), to support the development/applications of
information industry in Taiwan. III has a staff of around 1,400 professionals, of which more
than 70% hold a Master or above degree. To cultivate highly skilled ICT professionals, III
maintains education and training programs with great breadth and depth.
5.8 ITRI, founded in 1973, is a national research organization of Taiwan, with a mission
of conducting technological research, promoting industrial development, creating economic
value and improving social welfare. ITRI is Taiwan's largest applied technology R&D
institution and a pioneer in creating Taiwan's high tech industry. It was formed by the merger
of the Joint Industrial Research Institute, the Joint Institute of Mining and Metal Industrial
Research Institute. ITRI is not only Taiwan's largest applied technology R&D institution, but
also a pioneer in creating Taiwan's semiconductor industry. In 1975, RCA was selected as
the partner for a cooperation program with Taiwan Semiconductor. In 1976, the first batch of
trained engineers from ITRI was sent to the United States. In 1977, ITRI established
Taiwan's first 4-inch pilot plant for integrated circuits. And from 1980 onwards, many major
semiconductor companies were formed, such as UMC, TSMC, and Taiwan Mask, helping to
consolidate Taiwan's IC industry. In 1983, ITRI also developed the IBM-compatible personal
computer, and transferred this technology to the domestic industry, thereby promoting the
vigorous development of peripheral industries, laying the foundation for the personal
computer and information industry. As of today more than 60% of the ITRI's 6,000
employees hold either a Master's degree or PhD in their respective field of studies,
Information and Communication ,Electronics and Optoelectronics, Material, Chemical and
Nanotechnology, Medical Device and Biomedical Technologies, Mechanical and Systems
Technologies, Green Energy and Environment Technologies. For over thirty years, ITRI has
accumulated over 10,000 patents, cultivated 70 CEOs and assisted in the creation of over
165 start-ups and spinoffs.

5.9 As a result of the all-round efforts of the government, research institutes and industry,
networks were developed by Taiwanese firms with both Japanese and US companies.
These networks played a major part in their later growth. Finally, attracting immigrants
played a key role in the exchange of financial and operating issues.
5.10 The growth of the Taiwanese electronics industry is intertwined with the venture
capital industry in the country. The Taiwanese electronics industry has been built on a
combination of steadily increasing manufacturing expertise, including product design and
strong linkages to the U.S. market. It was foreign investors that made it possible for
Taiwanese firms to gain access to global markets and absorb new technologies. These
factors strategically positioned local entrepreneurs within international markets. Japanese
and U.S. multinational electronics firms arrived in Taiwan roughly contemporaneously and
provided the initial catalyst for developing an indigenous electronics industry. Often
Taiwanese entrepreneurs established joint ventures with smaller Japanese components
makers and assemblers that were seeking access to the protected Taiwanese consumer
market. Through participation in these joint ventures, local firms were able to observe and
learn new technologies, internalize new production processes, and increasingly participate in
the international electronics industry.
5.11 During the period from the 1960s through to the early 1980s, Taiwanese firms
learned how to manufacture parts and components for electronics products. Some important
competencies were developed:
(i) A network-like industrial structure that subdivided manufacturing tasks
among a number of smaller firms had been developed
(ii) Taiwan had developed a keen understanding of the U.S. market.
(iii) The government and the various firms had developed channels of
communication and understood the importance of electronics and industrial
upgrading.

(iv) A funding network for startups based on informal family and quasi-family
relationships had been formed that could mobilize capital for new
investments.
(v) The Taiwanese government had begun actively tapping immigrant
Taiwanese electronics engineers in the U.S. for advice and technology
transfer.
5.12 The arrival of the Personal Computer allowed the Taiwanese capabilities and
industrial structure that had developed earlier to blossom into a vehicle for entrepreneurial
success. Moreover, it also created the industrial dynamics for the emergence of a venture
capital industry. By the mid 1980s, Taiwanese firms were assembling PCs and various
components for U.S. firms. An ever-richer ecosystem of specialized firms geared toward
producing electronic components, subassemblies, and even finished computers evolved.
Moreover, from these seething mass of small firms, some firms, such as Acer, Mitac, FIC,
and Macronix became very successful and grew at rates as high as 30 percent compounded
annually. Finally, Taiwan built expertise in semiconductor manufacturing. Here, government
technical and financial assistance took the form of a conscious policy of creating expertise
and transferring it to the private sector. The foremost vehicle for this was the Industrial
Research and Technology Institute (ITRI) established in 1973 in Hsinchu City by the
government. ITRI was the institution responsible for creating the technical expertise that
made the move into semiconductors possible. ITRI and the Taiwanese firms drew upon the
large number of Taiwanese engineers working in established U.S. high-technology firms and
Silicon Valley startups. After attempting to establish integrated firms that undertook every
aspect of the production process from design to fabrication, Taiwanese firms retreated to
what would prove to a very profitable niche, contract fabrication for a new type of U.S.
semiconductor firm that was emerging, the fabless chip design firms. Taiwanese firms such
as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation and United Microelectronics
Corporation (a direct ITRI spinout) offered to fabricate chips for these design firms. This

symbiotic relationship proved to be very successful and TSMC, UMC, and various other
smaller Taiwanese competitors created an entirely new business, namely what are now
called the silicon foundries. Though TSMC and UMC received large government
investments, private sector investors (including the Dutch firm Philips and numerous
Taiwanese venture capitalists) also contributed the initial capital. Here again, Taiwanese
investors learned about the significant returns to be had from technology investing. Second,
the foundries gave the Taiwanese a very direct production-oriented connection to Silicon
Valley. The exchange of people in the form of immigrants was important, but most
significant, is that they shared business experiences, i.e., there were mutually beneficial
financial and operational interactions. These concrete activities undergirded and gave
objective meaning to the interaction between the two regions. This provided Taiwanese
semiconductor industry a powerful connection to Silicon Valley semiconductor design
community.
Approach in the 12th Plan for R&D and Innovation
5.13 The present proposal is in line with the approach of the 12th Plan towards R&D and
innovation. The draft Approach paper to the 12th Plan states that the Indian Science &
Technology landscape has to change to meet the magnitude of demands being made. The
change should take care of the new responses needed including delivery models for
innovative deployment of technologies and business models for financing deployment of
innovations. This would require adjustments in the existing governance and management
models in our universities, research institutions and laboratories for supporting strategic
goals in this area. Current practices and policies do not promote this objective sufficiently.
The above approach paper brings out that “we also need to migrate from defensive decision
syndrome to trust based decision logic and from risk averse to risk prepared social
behaviour”.

5.14 The approach paper states that at present, R&D expenditure in the country is only
about 0.9 percent of GDP, of which about three fourth is in the public sector and only
one‐fourth is in the private sector. This is simply not adequate to develop strong R&D. The
total expenditure in R&D is required to be increased to 2 percent of GDP by the end of the
Twelfth Plan. This could consist of about 1 percent in the public sector and 1 percent in the
corporate sector, including PSUs. As the resources devoted to R&D by our large public
sector organisations are far too small. They should be incentivised to make larger provisions.
This should not just be for in‐house R&D but also for they should fund R&D in research
institutions and universities, both public and private. The approach paper puts forth that
some of the research programmes need to be moved to the University system from the
national laboratories and agencies.
5.15 It is necessary to create a framework that takes into account the entire life cycle of
ideas beginning with discovery/creation to commercialization, extension and value addition.
It is success in this area alone that can stimulate appropriate innovation across the wider
system. Significant changes will have to be brought in current interaction of publicly‐owned
S&T establishment with industry, both in public and private sector. This should result in a
significant enhancement of the private sector R&D expenditure, which is presently estimated
at around 25 percent of national R&D expenditure to at least 50 percent in the Twelfth Plan.
5.16 The important elements which may play the catalytic role in achieving this outcome
are: first, leveraging the Government grants and other forms of financing, to secure private
financial flows and support around a demand driven R&D development path. Industry, both
public and private, would also need to be incentivized to invest at least 2 percent of their
sales turnover in R&D. The second is developing a workable protocol for facilitating
interaction amongst these players. This would cover a range of issues, from the nature of

testing to that of the regulatory framework and the facilitation of foreign direct investment
(FDI) in related R&D activity.
5.17 The innovative component of several technologies that have been developed by the
three strategic Departments of Atomic Energy, Space and Defence Research and
Development, for their own respective needs, could trigger unique mechanisms for
encouraging innovation and ensuring the right impact on social, industrial and strategic
sectors in the Twelfth Plan. Commercialisation of many of these spinoffs would require the
involvement of the IT, telecommunications and electronics industry in the country. It is
pertinent to note that commercialisation of most of these successful spinoffs could result in
availability of affordable products and services suited to the Indian customer and economy.
5.18 Based on the overall approach of the 12th Plan and the experiences of developing
high-technology industry in countries like Taiwan and Israel, it is proposed setting up of an
“Electronic Development Fund (EDF)” with the objectives referred to in paragraph 3 above.
We next describe the funding model of the proposed EDF.
Funding Model
5.19 Recognizing the fact that R&D and innovation in the ESDM sector is extremely rapid
and industry competing in the market is best equipped to undertake such rapid ongoing
innovation, we propose a model of channelizing adequate financial support wherein risk
capital can be made available for R&D and innovation through professionals. Two inherent
features of this model is that funding is made available to both public sector and private
sector and that the decision to fund a particular R&D and innovation project is handled by
experts familiar with the domain. It is also proposed that the Government support should
leverage and mobilize private equity flow into the R&D and innovation segment in the ESDM
sector, thereby facilitating the goal of 2 percent spend on R&D in the country.

5.20 From the Korean, Taiwanese and Israeli models, it appears that the development of
the electronics industry is intertwined with funding in the form of venture capital from
experienced investors. A similar model could be followed in India, i.e. the venture capital
route could be used to further the development of the electronics/telecom industry, meaning
thereby that experienced fund managers take up the task of investing the funds with the
objective of making the money work, for generating profits and development of the
electronics/telecom industry. This would ensure investing, hand-holding, networking and
collaboration with related industry partners, monitoring and setting up projects on a
professional basis, with due accountability, leading to a greater chance of success, as seen
in the Korean, Taiwanese and Israeli models. The relevant experience of SIDBI in India in
the general domain of venture capital investing was studied. While SIDBI has not floated or
participated in any ESDM specific funds, they have participated to the extent of Rs. 500
crore in 42 Funds (of which 21 are currently in the disinvestment phase). Apart from SIDBI‟s
contribution, these funds have been able to raise further money and have actually invested
Rs. 7200 crores in approximately 550 units. It is interesting to note that, as of date, the
Funds have already returned a substantial portion of SIDBI‟s capital plus profits, despite
investing only in equity and equity related instruments, signifying high risk. Further
redemptions by the Funds could be possible. The IRR range for the Funds is estimated at
1% to 33%.
5.21 A general analysis of various structures establishes the ineffectiveness of grant
programmes and subsidies both direct and indirect for development of R&D and innovation.
However, venture investment with an incentive for private sponsor‟s performance has proved
successful in the examples referred to above. Policy level interventions of the government
like tax pass-through status, enabling creation of required social and educational
infrastructure, duty free import of capital equipment and reduced borrowing costs for
investee companies may also contribute significantly to chances of success. Therefore, it is

recommended to that the proposed EDF would invest into Daughter Funds focussed on R&D
and innovation in the all verticals of the ESDM sector (please see paragraph 1.11 above),
including telecommunications.
5.22 To mitigate the risks, it is important for government to be at arm‟s-length from the
day-to-day Fund Management and operations; as such intervention in other countries has
been counterproductive. However, government may guide overall focus of the direction of
fund flow through the high level guidance to each daughter fund and by suitably specifying
the requirements at the time of creating a daughter fund. Strict auditing of the Funds is a
must; as per established industry norms in this regard.
Venture Funds Currently Operating in India
5.23 There are 159 Venture Funds registered with IVCA, of which there is only one, a very
small fund viz. Webel Venture Capital with corpus of Rs. 6 crore focussing on promoting
electronic and IT industry in West Bengal. SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd had one fund focussing
exclusively on IT which is fully invested and substantially disinvested. There are very few
funds focussing on seed and start up stage funding on R&D and innovation in general and
practically none in the ESDM domain. Some of the large funds provide money for large start
ups, but these are not for innovators rather than for established promoters seeking to
promote new ventures. There are only about 15 funds having an aggregate capacity to
provide around Rs. 1000 crore for seed and start-ups put together out of the total venture
capital corpus of Rs. 45000 crore available for investment. The actual amounts invested in
seed or start ups was only about Rs. 2000 crore till date and as per our understanding even
out of this a substantial amount has gone into much larger startups. While immediate
information regarding investments in ESDM is not available, anecdotally it is understood that
the investment figures would be miniscule.

Electronic Development Fund
5.24 The scope of the proposed EDF includes the entire electronic system design and
manufacturing (ESDM) ecosystem. This includes (i) VLSI, embedded design and reference
board design industry (ii) Components and accessory industry (iii) incremental Research and
Development Efforts by industry and academia (iv) high tech manufacturing like wafer fabs,
ATMPs, Solar PhotoVoltaics, displays, UMDs, power electronics, auto electronics,
sophisticated signalling, electronic remote guidance systems and pervasive electronics
devices (v) Electronic Manufacturing Systems (EMS) industry. For a more detailed list refer
to paragraph 1.11 above.
5.25 This could be done through a dedicated “Electronic Development Fund” with a
corpus of Rs. 10,000 crore for investing primarily in R&D, IPR, Product development and
technology acquisition in the ESDM sector. At the same time, to create the entire eco-
system, support activities such as manufacturing and development of infrastructure
(including educational infrastructure) would be a necessity. The EDF would deploy funds in
daughter funds in the following indicative areas, for R&D, innovation, IP development,
product development and commercialization. Considering the projected growth of the
telecom sector, and based on the requirements of the draft National Telecom Policy, 2011,
one or more dedicated daughter funds for the telecom sector are proposed.
5.26 While daughter funds may be vertical specific, as for the telecom sector, referred to
in paragraph 5.25 above, daughter funds can also be categorized based on the nature of
economic activity they would support. These activities would include:
I R&D and Innovation
ii. Commercialisation of R&D, including “Incubation” funds
iii Ceed, early and growth stage

iv. Technology acquisition including related to defence, space, atomic energy and such
other critical applications
v. Infrastructure related to electronics ecosystem development.
vi. Manufacturing
Sl ni. (i) to (iv) above would be high involvement areas for the eDF. Sl no. (v) would be
medium involvement area and Sl no. 6 would be low involvement are. Roughly, 75 percent
of total funds would be deployed for high involvement are, 15 percent for medium
development area and 10 percent for low development area.
5.27 Daughter Funds for R&D and Innovation – there is a dearth of venture funds in India
which invest in early stage innovative ideas and technologies. This is primarily due to typical
risk aversion. These funds could play a role in establishing relationships with worldwide
research institutes / companies for collaboration in R&D and possibly attract R&D
professionals from across the world to work for / engage in R&D with Indian companies. EDF
could invest upto 100% of the corpus of these funds aimed at electronics, telecom and IT
Hardware/Software industries.
5.28 Daughter Funds for commercialisation of R&D, including “Incubation” funds – India
has a plethora of government research laboratories spread over the country. Most of these
labs are controlled by the CSIR. Significant research is carried out in these labs which
unfortunately, may not have been commercialised. Funds could be structured which would
invest in commercial organisations that could in turn acquire technology from these labs, for
commercial exploitation. Also, educational institutes such as the IITs have also set up
incubation centres which house some interesting start-ups. DIT has a scheme for funding
incubation centres called Technological Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs
(TIDE) which aims to assist Institutions of Higher learning to strengthen their Technology
Incubation Centres and thus enable young entrepreneurs to initiate technology start up

companies for commercial exploitation of technologies developed by them. The TIDE
scheme would be subsumed in the scope of EDF.
EDF could invest upto 100% of the corpus of these daughter funds.
5.29 Daughter Funds for seed, early and growth stage investing across the spectrum of
activities in the electronic, telecom and IT hardware industries. EDF could invest between
25% to 49%.
5.30 Daughter Funds for technology acquisition including related to defence, space,
atomic energy and such other critical applications. These funds would generally invest in
corporates desirous of acquiring technology/companies abroad. They could also consider
funding entities willing to setting up / taking a stake in / acquiring R&D centres / labs abroad.
EDF could invest between 25% to 49%.
5.31 Daughter Funds for infrastructure related to electronics ecosystem development.
Adequate infrastructure would be required to improve the entire ecosystem related to
electronics industry. This could comprise of dedicated industrial estates, proper facilities for
import and export of cargo, residential and office infrastructure, improved roads around
dedicated estates including to airports/seaports. Infrastructure could also entail improving
and expanding related educational infrastructure so as to ensure building up adequate
human resources for the expansion in activity. For example, a fund could invest in setting up
a private sector educational institution, primarily oriented towards the telecom/electronic
industry. EDF could invest upto 25% of the corpus of these funds.
5.32 Daughter Funds for investing in the entire ecosystem of the electronics industry,
including manufacturing. Operating electronic manufacturing facilities requires significant
capital investment on an ongoing basis. As such, lending banks look for adequate net worth

of the borrowers, which many times, may not be sufficient. Equity investment into such
companies (with priority going to manufacture of ITA-1 and then to non ITA items), would
shore up the net worth, thus enabling the required bank funding, to build up the
manufacturing capacity. EDF could invest upto 25% of the corpus of these funds.
Rationale for Fund requirement
5.33 The Indian electronics industry needs to reach a size of USD 400 Billion. Without
interventions, it is expected that the industry would reach about USD 100 Billion. Therefore,
the proposed intervention is expected to help the industry leap frog from USD 100 Billion to
USD 400 billion. It is relevant to mention, the proposed intervention is one of the initiatives
which addresses the R&D and innovation pillar for the ESDM sector. In order to get Rs.
13,50,000 crore (approximately USD 300 Billion), increase in the industry, it is necessary to
invest about Rs. 3,50,000 crore in various facilities considering an turnover to fixed asset
ratio of about 4:1. In order to invest Rs. 3,50,000 crore, one needs to have long term debt of
Rs. 2,50,000 crore and equity of about Rs. 1,00,000 crore (assuming a debt equity of 2.5
during the period, but the debt equity on financing will be on an average at 1.25:1 but since
the project will be raising at least 2 rounds of financing, the total debt (raised in the next 6-8
years) to the total equity invested may yet be 2.5:1. It is likely that about 80% of the equity
will be pumped in by the private sector (both Indian and foreign) as the industry enters the
virtuous spiral. Hence, it is likely that the deficit would be in the initial phase of the expansion
of the electronics industry and equity of about Rs. 20000 crore should be able to bridge the
gap.
5.34 It is projected that approximately one half of the gap (i.e. Rs. 10000 crore) would be
filled in by start-ups and other incubated companies seeking support from various daughter
Funds of EDF and that an equivalent amount would be leveraged from other private and
public sector participants.

5.35 The funding pattern (i.e. EDF‟s contribution) may change depending on the situation
persisting at the time of fund raising by the daughter funds. However, EDF‟s contribution to
the “R&D and innovation” and “Incubation and related activities” funds is expected to stay at
100% as it may be difficult for other commercial investors to participate in such funds. EDF‟s
contribution to the “Seed”, “Early”, “Growth” and “Acquisition oriented” funds is expected to
be 49% as these are funds would have a higher risk profile, leading to a lesser number of
other investors willing to invest in them. It is expected that the “Infrastructure” and
“Manufacturing” funds would have a lower risk profile, with consequently higher number of
commercial investors willing to invest. EDF could invest 25% of the corpus of such funds.
6. EDF Legal Framework
6.1 A body having representatives of government, academia and industry may be
constituted to manage the fund. This could be called the EDF Managing Board and would
function under the overall guidance and directions of the proposed National Electronics
Mission. The EDF Managing board would have representatives from Government, Industry,
Academia and Fund Manager Representatives. A professional management agency
managing the EDF would be engaged and it would service the EDF Managing Board as its
Member Secretary. The structure of EDF would be as below:

Dept. of Information Technology
Electronics Development Fund
Rs. 10,000 cr
Policy
guidance Other investors including
EDF Managing Board (govt, industry, foreign investors, domestic
academia, “fund of fund” managers) industry and financial
institutions etc.
Fund
Manager
VC Funds
Manufacturing
Fund
Manager
Fund
Fund Manager
Fund
VC Funds Manager
Manager
Technology Fund
Acquisition VC Funds
Manager
Infrastructure
VC Funds VC Funds
Incubation Seed, Early,
and allied Growth
VC Funds
R&D and
Innovation
Scouting/Scree Evaluation and Legal Nurturing, Exit

Negotiation of documentation
ning of monitoring
terms and
investments disbursement

6.2 EDF would be invested into smaller “daughter funds”, which would leverage EDF‟s
capital to raise investment from other investors, to enlarge the pool of investible funds.
These “daughter funds” would need to be registered with the Securities Exchange Board of
India (SEBI) which is the regulator for venture capital funds in the country. The funds are
typically structured as trusts, with an asset management company (AMC) providing
investment advice. Basically, the AMC carries out all activities of screening investment
proposals, negotiation of terms, execution of legal documents with the investee companies,
disbursement of funds, monitoring, mentoring and other advice to the investee companies
aimed at building up the investee companies. After staying invested for a typical period of 5
years, the fund manager (AMC) looks to exit the investments. Those funds which are
registered with SEBI are eligible for tax pass-through status. The regulatory scenario for
venture capital funds is captured below (from the SEBI website -
http://www.sebi.gov.in/commreport/venrep4.html):
6.3 At present, the Venture Capital activity in India comes under the purview of different
sets of regulations namely :
i. The SEBI (Venture Capital Funds) Regulation, 1996[Regulations] lays down the
overall regulatory framework for registration and operations of venture capital funds
in India.
ii. Overseas venture capital investments are subject to the Government of India
Guidelines for Overseas Venture Capital Investment in India dated September 20,
1995.
iii. For tax exemptions purposes venture capital funds also needs to comply with the
Income Tax Rules made under Section 10(23FA) and later 10 (23 FB) of the Income
Tax Act.
In addition to the above, offshore funds also require FIPB/RBI approval for investment in
domestic funds as well as in Venture Capital Undertakings(VCU). Domestic funds with
offshore contributions also require RBI approval for the pricing of securities to be purchased

in VCU likewise, at the time of disinvestment, RBI approval is required for the pricing of the
securities. It is expected that each of the proposed funds would comply to the extant
regulatory and legal framework as applicable.
6.4 Some clarifications would be required from competent authority with regard to
operation of these Funds. While these would be sought at appropriate stages, it may
relevant to mention these. Presently, there are multiple guidelines from
SEBI/RBI/Government of India regarding investments by venture capital funds. These may
require clarification/reconciliation. Examples in this regard include:
 SEBI regulations permit investment by venture capital funds in equity or equity
related instruments of unlisted companies and also in financially weak and sick
industries whose shares are listed or unlisted. The Government of India Guidelines
and the Income Tax Rules restrict the investment by venture capital funds only in the
equity of unlisted companies.
 SEBI Regulations provide that atleast 80% of the funds should be invested in venture
capital companies and no other limits are prescribed. The Income Tax Rule until now
provided that VCF shall invest only upto 40% of the paid-up capital of VCU and also
not beyond 20% of the corpus of the VCF. The Government of India guidelines also
prescribe similar restriction. Now the Income Tax Rules have been amended and
provides that VCF shall invest only upto 25% of the corpus of the venture capital fund
in a single company.
 SEBI Regulations do not provide for any sectoral restrictions for investment except
investment in companies engaged in financial services. The Government of India
Guidelines also do not provide for any sectoral restriction, however, there are
sectoral restrictions under the Income Tax Guidelines which provide that a VCF can
make investment only in companies engaged in the business of software, information
technology, production of basic drugs in pharmaceutical sector, bio-technology,
agriculture and allied sector and such other sectors as notified by the Central

Government in India and for production or manufacture of articles or substance for
which patent has been granted by National Research Laboratory or any other
scientific research institution approved by the Department of Science and
Technology, if the VCF intends to claim Income Tax exemption. In fact, erstwhile
Section 10(23F) of Income Tax Act was much wider in its scope and permitted VCFs
to invest in VCUs engaged in various manufacture and production activities also.”
6.5 The structure of a typical fund which raises money from both domestic and foreign
investors is depicted below :
100% Indian
AMC subsidiary Sponsor
Pays AMC
Provides fee+profit share
Investment Advice Trustee
EDF
Company
1. Manage the funds. Acts as a
2 Float the scheme. trustee to the
trust funds.
3. Due-Diligence
Passes on advisory
fee largely to Indian
AMC
Daughter fund
AMC-Abroad
Invests in Indian
Pays advisory VC Fund
fee India
Foreign
Investors Abroad
6.6 The creation of the fund by the government acts as a signal to the industry,
entrepreneurs, students and others that it is a focus industry of the government and
therefore, as a self-fulfilling prophecy, sets in motion the components of the ecosystem

towards a virtuous spiral till the spiral becomes self-sustaining. It is one of the important
catalysts just like policy which stimulates the system. It also has a much lower implied cost
compared to subsidy (no return, adverse selection), waiver of taxes (distortion of economy
and laundering, encouraging no trail phenomenon), and other artificial stimulants. The fund
also engages government with the private sector through appropriate intermediaries and
enhances the responsiveness of all participants to the national needs in a profitable and
sustained manner.
7. Management Arrangements
7.1 The structure of the EDF is proposed below:
1. EDF would be a Government of India sponsored, revolving fund with an corpus of
Rs. 10000 crores with the purpose of fulfilling the objectives mentioned in
paragraph 3 above.
2. Within the overall project objective and the thrust for R&D and innovation, the focus
sectors/activities of EDF to be decided by the EDF Managing Board under the
guidance of the National Electronics Mission. Till such time the National Electronics
mission is not constituted, this guidance would be provided by the Department of
information Technology, Government of India.
3. EDF would work as a Fund of Funds and invest into “Daughter Funds”. EDF‟s
disbursements would take place out of Government of India‟s budgetary allocation
from year to year. As such, EDF would be a virtual fund.
4. “Daughter funds” would be managed by professional managers
5. EDF would be managed by a body known as the “EDF Managing Board” with
members drawn from government, academia, industry, fund of fund investors
experienced in early and growth stage venture investing.

6. The Board would take decisions regarding selection of “daughter fund managers”,
negotiation and execution of contribution agreements, disbursement of funds to
daughter funds and monitoring of the investments thereof.
7. Drawdown of funds by the daughter funds from EDF would be after execution of
necessary agreements with the Government.
8. Each investment would typically contribute between 25% - 49% of the daughter
funds. This would catalyse between 2 - 4 times the investment by the EDF both by
way of domestic and foreign money. In specific cases, such as funds dedicated to
Innovation and R&D, incubation and allied activities, 100% of the fund could be
contributed by EDF.
9. Each daughter fund may range between Rs. 500 – 1000 crores, i.e. EDF would
invest between Rs. 125 – 490 crores in a daughter fund e.g. in a Rs. 500 crore fund
where EDF invests 25% of the capital, EDF‟s investment would be Rs. 125 crore.
In a Rs. 1000 crore fund where EDF invests 49% of the fund, EDF‟s investment
would be Rs. 490 crore.
10. The above structure could lead to focused funds e.g. “seed stage fund for
Innovation, IPR and R&D”, “early stage fund for commercialisation of R&D”,
“growth stage fund for acquisition” etc.
11. There would be a grant component out of EDF for funding university level research,
strategic research oriented towards inter-alia, development of Indian
microprocessor, setting up incubation centres (including provision of legal
assistance to entrepreneurs), setting up departments related to electronics
education in universities etc.
12. Other than EDF, there would be domestic and foreign investors (e.g. industry
houses, financial institutions, domestic insurance companies, pension funds,
corporates) in each daughter fund, contributing the balance of the capital
13. Managers of each daughter fund would need to have a track record of fund
management and suitable investment experience in the electronic and telecom

industry so as to be able to provide the necessary linkages with management
guidance.
14. EDF would have adequate representation on relevant committees in each daughter
fund.
15. The fund managers / other investors would be given the option to buy out EDF in
each daughter fund at a fixed return of 5% on IRR basis anytime during the first 7
years of the fund life. This structure is based on the Israeli Yozma structure (fixed
return of 5-7%) and is expected to highly incentivise the fund managers / other
investors to invest in the development of the electronics industry. Other Govt. of
India schemes such as TDB, TIFAC offer loans at interest rate of 5%. In case of
successful funds where EDF‟s stake is bought out, EDF would earn a return also.
As such, while some funds may be successful in buying out EDF‟s stake, a few
funds may not be able to do the same due to under par performance. On the
whole, it is difficult to estimate the eventual returns on the fund, at this stage.
16. Each daughter fund is expected to have a fund life in the range of 10 -15 years.
17. The fund managers of the daughter funds will be eligible to charge management
fee. It is proposed that a ceiling of 1.25% p.a. of the committed corpus be put for
this purpose. Incentive could be to the extent of 20% of the carry.
7.2 EDF‟s contribution in each of these “daughter funds” would be leveraged by the
investment managers to raise the balance fund. As such, the entire job of raising the fund,
investing, monitoring and exiting individual investments would be the responsibility of the
investment managers, i.e. the “daughter funds” would be responsibility of the investment
managers. Typically, investment managers would approach EDF for the initial commitment
to a particular fund (say 49%) that they wish to set up. Upon securing EDF‟s commitment,
they would then raise the balance 51% of the fund from other investors. This process could
take a year or more, after obtaining commitment from EDF. Upon securing commitments for

the entire targeted fund size, the fund managers would enter into legally binding contribution
agreements with all the contributors, including EDF. Following this, the fund managers would
scout for investment opportunities and seek approval from their internal investment
committees. This would be followed by actual drawdown of funds, pro-rata from the
investors, including EDF for investing into companies. There would be a number of draw-
downs by each fund, during the investment phase, which typically would be the initial five
years of fund life. Upon realizing exits, the investment managers would distribute the
proceeds.
Revolving Fund
7.3 The daughter funds may be permitted to commence harvesting their investments
from 5th year after zero date. This process may be completed in the 12th year. They have the
option to buyout EDF in the first seven years after drawdown. This amount of buyout (at an
IRR of 5%) would go to another Daughter Fund created to fulfill the objectives laid for this
Project. The revolving nature of EDF would be a force multiplier as reinvestment of the
proceeds would keep on leveraging greater amounts from the market and ensure provision
of equity funds to the electronics, IT and telecom industry in the country for R&D and
innovation purposes.
7.4 The responsibility of the EDF Managing Board would include selection of the
individual investment managers for the “daughter funds”, disbursing funds to the “daughter
funds”, monitoring the investment managers and realising the exit proceeds from the
“daughter funds”. Upon realising the exit proceeds, the same could be channelled back into
new “daughter funds”, as EDF is proposed as a revolving fund. The concept of the revolving
nature of EDF has been discussed earlier in this note. The EDF Managing Board would be
provided policy guidance by the Ministry from time to time. Basically, EDF is visualised to
function as a virtual fund of funds.

7.5 The daughter funds would be independent, professionally managed funds, registered
with the regulator (SEBI). The teams managing the individual daughter funds would be
experienced venture capital fund managers. Investment decisions by the funds would be
taken by their Investment Committees, where EDF could have representation. The expenses
of the fund managers would be by way of management fee, which is proposed at 1.25% p.a.
The fund managers would be incentivized by way of carry, which could be to the extent of
20%. The management fees, carry and other management arrangements would also need
the concurrence of other investors in the daughter funds, who would be contributing 51% -
75% of the corpus.
8. Timeframes
8.1 The zero date may be considered as the date of formation of EDF Managing Board.
This would assume that all government approvals are firmly in place and EDF is ready to
commence its activity. The following timeframes are estimated after the above zero date.
The amounts shown are for illustration purposes and do not indicate any allocation to a
particular activity.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 years --------------------------------------------------------------
6 months 6 months 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th year 6th year 6 6
mths mths
A Commitment to R&D and Risk profile very high. Selection of funds to take more
innovation funds time. 100% contributed by EDF.
B Commitment to seed, early High to medium risk profile. Selection of funds to take
and growth funds less time. EDF contribution expected to be 49%.
C Commitment to acquisition, Lower risk profile. Selection of funds

infra & manufacturing funds would be completed in 2 years. EDF
contribution expected to be 25%.
D Disbursement-Direct grant 100 cr 500 cr 1500 cr 1500 cr 1400 cr
support
E EDF-Disbursement to 100 cr 250 cr 750 cr 1000 cr 1500 cr 900 cr 500 cr
daughter funds
F Other investors- 100 cr 250 cr 750 cr 1000 cr 1500 cr 900 cr 500 cr
Disbursement to daughter
funds
G Investment by daughter
funds
Daughter funds invest funds raised from EDF and other investors
9. Means of finance and Project budget
9.1 As is evident from row „D‟ and „E‟ in the table above, actual disbursement of EDF is
expected from the first year, though in a small manner. It is expected to climb and reach the
peak disbursement in the 5th year and fall off thereafter. Disbursements are expected to
continue into the 6th and 7th years, though disbursement amounts should be lesser. The
following table presents a picture :
------------------------------------------------------------------ 7 years -------------------------------------------------------
6 months 6 months 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th year 6th year 6 mths Total
Disbursement-Direct grant - 100 cr 500 cr 1500 cr 1500 cr 1400 cr - - 5000 cr

support
EDF-Disbursement to - 100 cr 250 cr 750 cr 1000 cr 1500 cr 900 cr 500 cr 5000 cr
daughter funds
Total disbursements - 200 cr 750 cr 2250 cr 2500 cr 2900 cr 900 cr 500 cr 10000 cr
The amounts shown are for illustration purposes and do not indicate any allocation to a
particular activity.

10. Evaluation and Success Criteria
10.1 Since the objective of EDF is broadly to develop an ecosystem of strong R&D and
innovation in the country, the evaluation criteria would also be aligned accordingly. Some of
the indicative performance indicators will include: IP and patents developed, number of start
ups and their growth, etc. The evaluation matrix would be developed in consultation with
relevant stakeholders, especially those from the academia and industry.
10.2 EDF Managing Board may also direct visits through representatives for interactions
with the individual investee companies. Regular interaction with the daughter funds‟
managers would be carried out by EDF‟s managers.
10.3 A small yearly budget of 1% of EDF‟s disbursement can be allocated for monitoring,
out of EDF itself.
11. Risk analysis
11.1 The following could be the risks to successful operation of EDF:
Risks Mitigation
1 Market risks – EDF Incentive by way of a put
There could be low demand for EDF‟s funds from option on EDF at a low rate
venture capital fund managers. Targeted fund closure of return.
may not be achieved due to overall investment
environment.
2 Daughter fund manager risk – need for cohesive EDF Managing Board would
teams throughout the individual fund life of ~10 -12 comprise of people
years experienced in fund of fund
3 Daughter fund manager risk – unable to invest due to operations. Further, the carry
lack of deals in the pipeline, inability to close deals. option at the daughter fund
level is also expected to

mitigate the risk to some
extent.
4 Daughter fund manager risk – failure of individual Induction of experienced
investments operating teams at daughter
5 Operating risk at EDF board level, Fund manager fund level.
level and individual company level
6 Market risks – individual companies Daughter fund managers will
Individual investee companies of the daughter funds need to choose the
could face market risks related to offtake agreements, investments / entrepreneurs
market depth, barriers to entry, product pricing, forex, carefully and also provide
global operating risks including cultural issues etc. support subsequently.
7 Technology risk Skill of the operating teams
at the individual company
level.
8 Exit risk – daughter funds may be locked into illiquid Individual investments may
investments, even though valuable otherwise not have scaled up. Strategic
acquisitions of such
companies /buyouts by other
funds/listing on relevant
stock exchanges could be a
possibility. However, the exit
timeframes could get
extended.
9 Regulatory risks to investee companies Business execution plan
timeframes could get
extended, leading to higher
levels of funding to keep
operations afloat.
12. Financial and economic impact expected
12. EDF is expected to leverage about Rs. 5000 crore from other investors, both
domestic and international. Thus, the total investible corpus could be in the range of Rs.
15,000 crore which is expected to benefit the electronic /telecom industry. This could be

expected to result in ~ 1000 individual investments, resulting in employing ~ 50000 people.
As such, with Rs. 15,000 crore being invested in 1000 companies, the average investment
size may be be in the range of Rs. 15 crore. The direct employment to indirect employment
ratio can be assumed at 4:1 and therefore approximately 2 lakh additional jobs will be
created.
12.2 The major benefits are expected to be in the technology domain as the investments
are expected to generate ownership of valuable technology for the country. This would result
in reduced levels of payouts for import of technology/products/services and have a positive
impact on the foreign exchange situation. At present, there is a high level of import content in
the electronics/telecom industry in the country. Further, it is also expected to have a positive
impact with respect to the strategic industries such as defence, space, atomic energy.
13 Sustainability
13.1 Funding support is required only till the time, the electronics industry starts flourishing
by itself after achieving economies of scale in production, marketing and financing. Once the
funds invest and bring out the long term viability and create new enterprises, the normal
commercial financing would sustain the growth of the industry and its momentum. It is part of
the normal cycle that there is promotional funding to provide the activation energy for a self
sustaining growth of any industry. GoI has done this for sugar, textiles and other
conventional sectors and the same revolution is expected in the electronics industry too. Just
like all sops have been withdrawn for core industries (except during crises), the electronics
industry would also not require sops once it establishes itself.

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Ministry of Communications and

1. Background and Context

However, it lags behind in Electronics Systems Design and Manufacturing (ESDM)

may exceed oil imports.

Electronic Development Fund Page 1

strategic implications command immediate development of domestic ESDM capacities in the

developed up to the chip level so as to be in a position to address such risks.

Electronic Development Fund Page 2

market share and revenue.

converged device between a phone and a PC is one recent example.

ESDM sector. Therefore, to be able to compete in this globally integrated sector, it is

in the ESDM sector.

India operations of companies such as Texas Instruments (TI), ST Microelectronics (STM),

Electronic Development Fund Page 3

highly risk oriented and is largely lacking.

1.10 It is also relevant to note that ESDM is a meta-sector, which underlies

technological/IT applications in practically all sectors of economy, whether education, health,

Gateway, DWDM, GPON; mobile handsets; broadcast equipment including transmission

automotive electronics including, capacitor discharge ignition, flashers, regulators,

Electronic Development Fund Page 4

including imaging equipment, therapeutic equipment, home care equipment, patient

monitoring; solar photovoltaic; electronic components including, active components like

i. Recommendations of the High Level Committee Report on ESDM submitted to Prime

ii. Recommendations of the Task Force set up by the Department of Information

iii. Draft National Policy on Electronics released in October 2011.

iv. Draft National Telecom Policy, released in October 2011.

Recommendations of the High Level Committee Report on ESDM

2.2 A High Level Committee comprising of Dr. V Krishnamurthy, Chairman, National

Minister for Public Infrastructure, Information and Innovation, Member Secretary-NMCC,

sector. The Committee made five key recommendations in their report:

Electronic Development Fund Page 5

Microprocessor Design initiatives

ii. Create policies for preferential access to “Manufactured-in-India”/”Indian Products”

iii. Set up a dedicated “Electronic Development Fund”

iv. Set up of a National Electronics Mission (NEM)

v. Encourage manufacture of specific high priority electronic product lines in India by

providing capital grant and creation of electronic manufacturing clusters.

1) “There is an urgent need for intervention to promote and develop innovation,

which include telecom products, especially those having security implications.

It is proposed to create a dedicated ‘Electronic Development Fund’ with an

development and promotion of electronics equipment manufacturing. This

leveraged to acquire foreign companies so as to shift the production of

acquisitions. The fund would be managed professionally and accessible to

both Government and private sector.”

2) “To take up a major program for design and fabrication of an Indian

Microprocessor. This would have multiple benefits such as (i) elimination /

Electronic Development Fund Page 6

worked out, which is expected to be around Rs. 5000 crores.”

Recommendations of the Task Force to stimulate the ESDM sector

Infosystems was set up the Department of Information Technology in 2009 to suggest

comprehensive set of recommendations to suggest measures to stimulate the growth of

recommendations, by implication, require that the said eco-system be strengthened.

government and the industry bodies are stake holders.

products for India.

(1) To enable the industry access funds at internationally competitive rates, a

Electronic Development Fund Page 7

provide financial assistance in the following manner.

(2) Provision of interest subsidy linked to value addition.