TDB secretary Rajesh Kumar Pathak told ET that the board expects to disburse around Rs 500-600 crore during the current financial year. The first set of selected deeptech startups work across drones, spacetech, advanced batteries, and biotechnology.
Pathak added that TDB has selected 22 projects so far, including 14 startups, five MSMEs, and three listed companies. “Ticket sizes can be as low as Rs 3 crore and as high as Rs 100-150 crore, depending on the project,” he said.
The board has been allotted Rs 2,000 crore as patient capital to support deeptech firms and industry-led research within India. RDIF was announced by the central government in November 2025 with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore, to be deployed over six years, starting with an allocation of Rs 20,000 crore in FY26. The fund aims to operate through a two-tier structure with limited government intervention.
On Wednesday, Bengaluru-based iSTEM Research received Rs 50 crore for the development of indigenous cell therapies targeting two globally incurable diseases.
The first batch of selected companies includes EndureAir Systems for Project Subal 200, an indigenous unmanned helicopter platform capable of carrying payloads exceeding 200 kg for logistics, surveillance, and disaster response.
Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space has been selected for Project Garud with an allocation of Rs 105 crore, a 500 kg-class modular satellite platform designed for constellation-scale deployment, while ET RNL Energy and Noccarc Robotics are working on advanced lithium-ion battery cells and portable ICU-grade emergency systems, respectively.
Abhay Egoor, chief technology officer and cofounder, Dhruva said, “Through RDIF, Dhruva is building an indigenous satellite platform and manufacturing ecosystem capable of supporting high-volume deployments across communications, intelligence, and strategic applications.” He added that the objective is to become a globally competitive spacecraft OEM and subsystem supplier.
Pathak said the board received 124 proposals and has evaluated 51 so far across four batches. “The companies made presentations before the committee, and the committee recommended projects for the next round of funding.”
TDB said the investment committee has been structured in line with the RDI framework and is chaired by former NASSCOM chairman Saurabh Srivastava.
The board has entered into term sheets with six companies and signed agreements with five. “We’ve released the first tranche to one of the applicants. The rest are in the process and will be released soon,” Pathak said.