Published: October 15, 2026
StartupFeed Quick Take
- The RDI Fund has cleared its first 19 fund managers, 14 investment funds and five research bodies, with Rs 7,131 crore committed.
- Until this week the scheme ran on just two managers, which together committed about Rs 2,500 crore.
- Each manager must match its government money with private capital, so the cohort could move close to Rs 14,000 crore.
India’s Rs 1 lakh crore RDI Fund has named its first 19 fund managers on October 12 to back deeptech startups.
The Ministry of Science and Technology made the announcement. Its Empowered Group of Secretaries had cleared the managers at a meeting on October 8. Together they committed Rs 7,131 crore.
That is a sharp jump. Before this week, the RDI Fund had just two managers. The 19 were chosen from nearly 200 applications in the first call, which closed in January.
What the RDI Fund cleared
The 19 institutions are called second-level fund managers. Fourteen are alternative investment funds, the vehicles private venture and growth funds use. Five others are focused research bodies.
These include research arms linked to the Indian Institute of Science, IIT Madras, IIT Bombay and BITS Pilani.
The managers will fund startups working at Technology Readiness Level 4 and above. That is the point where a lab idea has a working proof of concept, not just theory. Priority sectors run from energy and space to quantum computing, robotics, biotechnology and artificial intelligence.
The same meeting added five more technologies to the fund, which the government did not name. Fresh cohorts of managers will follow in the coming months.
Why two managers held up a Rs 1 lakh crore fund
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Rs 1 lakh crore RDI Fund in November 2025. The scheme is now a year old, with six years left to spend the full amount. It is the biggest single item in this year’s science budget.
For most of that year the RDI Fund ran on only two managers. They were the Technology Development Board and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council. Both were nominated rather than picked through a call.
That held back spending. The Budget set aside Rs 20,000 crore for the fund in 2025-26. Revised estimates later cut that to Rs 3,000 crore, as the money went out slowly.
The scheme had already handed each of the two Rs 2,000 crore to lend out. Little of it moved.
By late September, the two had committed about Rs 2,500 crore between them, the news site The Ken reported. The delay was no secret. Abhay Karandikar, the Department of Science and Technology secretary, had explained it himself in February.
“Currently, only the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and the Technology Development Board (TDB) have been appointed as the second level fund managers and that is the reason we could not spend the entire Rs 20,000 crore.”
Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology. From a post-Budget press conference, February 2026.
How the money reaches a startup
The RDI Fund does not back companies directly. A Special Purpose Fund inside the Anusandhan National Research Foundation holds the money, then hands it to the managers.
Those managers invest in the startups themselves. The foundation sits under the Department of Science and Technology.
The support comes as long-term loans at low or no interest, or as equity. A single loan can cover up to half of a project’s cost.
Each manager must raise private capital to match its RDI Fund money. If the full Rs 7,131 crore is matched, the first cohort could channel close to Rs 14,000 crore.
Here is where the fund’s first managers stand so far.
| Fund manager | Type | RDI Fund commitment | Startups backed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technology Development Board | Research body | About Rs 2,192 crore | 22 |
| BIRAC | Research body | About Rs 390 crore | 8 |
| New cohort (October 2026) | 14 funds, 5 research bodies | Rs 7,131 crore | Not yet deployed |
The open questions
Approval is not the same as cash. The new managers must now raise their matching private funds and run their own calls for proposals. By the government’s own earlier estimate, a manager may take six to eight months after selection to make its first investment.
Private money is the open question. The RDI Fund leans on venture funds pulling in outside investors rupee for rupee. Whether they can, in a tighter funding market, will decide how much of the Rs 7,131 crore actually reaches founders.
What this means for you: If you run a deeptech or research-led startup past the lab stage, there are now 19 funds that can write you an RDI cheque, not two. Watch for fresh calls for proposals from the new managers, and line up a private co-investor, since each fund must match its RDI money.
StartupFeed Insight
Nineteen managers and Rs 7,131 crore make a headline, but the real test is paying the money out, not approving it. The old two committed about Rs 2,500 crore in a year and spent far less. These new funds must still raise matching private money. By the government’s own account, that adds six months or more. Founders should expect the first fresh calls for proposals by early 2027. Real cheques from this cohort may come closer to mid-2027. Deeptech teams with a private investor already lined up will reach the front of that queue first.
By Avinash Mishra, Business Correspondent
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