Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Udyog Uday Yojana: Assistance for Technology Acquisition

What is the Technology Acquisition component of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Udyog Uday Yojana?

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Udyog Uday Yojana is a package of MSME incentives created by the Industries and Mines Department, Government of Gujarat, exclusively for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs. The yojana; often written in transliterated form as "Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Udhyog Uday Yojna": was notified through Government Resolution No. SSI/102020/332376/Ch dated 1 September 2020 as part of the Gujarat Industrial Policy 2020, and it replaces the earlier SC/ST assistance package issued under Resolution No. MSM-102017-688-Ch dated 24 October 2017.

Assistance for Technology Acquisition is Scheme 6 inside that resolution. Scheme 6 pays an SC or ST owned manufacturing MSME 70% of the cost payable for acquiring appropriate technology from a recognised institution for its product or process, including royalty payment for the first two years, subject to a maximum of Rs 50 lakh. The intent is narrow and specific: a small unit that has identified a better process. A cleaner dyeing route, a higher-yield casting method, a patented formulation, can licence it without the licence fee alone swallowing the year's profit.

The State Government also runs a near-identical Technology Acquisition component for all MSMEs under the Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Scheme (Resolution No. MIS-102022-1271(1)-I(Ch) dated 5 October 2022), where the published draft guideline sets the rate at 65% with the same Rs 50 lakh ceiling. Because the two schemes overlap in subject matter, the MSME Commissionerate is the authority that decides which resolution governs a given file.

Key features

• Applies only to manufacturing activity, never to trading or services.
• Covers licence and know-how cost plus two years of royalty; excludes all plant and machinery.
• Requires prior approval: approval is sought before the claim, not after.
• Sanctioned and disbursed by the MSME Commissioner's office, not the District Industries Centre.

Who is eligible for technology acquisition assistance in Gujarat?

You can claim it if:

• You are a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe entrepreneur, or your partnership, company or LLP has 51% or more SC/ST shareholding. The resolution states this plainly in its general conditions.
• Your unit meets the micro, small or medium definition under the MSMED Act 2006 as amended, and holds an Udyam registration or Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum acknowledgement, or a DPIIT registration where that applies.
• Your unit is engaged in manufacturing and is located in Gujarat.
• You are a new enterprise or an existing enterprise adopting technology — both are covered.
• The technology is acquired from a recognised institution, or is patented technology bought from an Indian or foreign company.

You are not eligible, and cannot apply, if:

• Your business is a trading or service activity. Both are excluded.
• The technology came from a company but is not patented, and the supplier is not one of the recognised research bodies such as ISRO, DRDO, the Department of Science and Technology, a DSIR-recognised institution or a university.
• Your claim is essentially for plant, machinery or equipment. Hardware purchase is expressly outside the scheme, and so are hotel, travel and similar expenses.
• You signed the technology agreement more than one year before you seek prior approval.
• The enterprise executed the technology acquisition, commenced commercial production and applied all before 5 October 2022 in a file being processed under the Aatmanirbhar guideline, that combination is expressly ruled out there.
• You are claiming the same expenditure under another State Government scheme. Central government assistance may be combined, but total State plus Central support can never exceed actual expenditure incurred.

What documents are required?

How to apply for Technology Acquisition assistance

1. Sign the technology agreement first. The MOU, agreement or contract with the technology provider is the trigger document, and the application window is one year from the date the earliest of these is signed.
2. Register on the Investor Facilitation Portal at ifp.gujarat.gov.in using your enterprise PAN, Udyam number and a working mobile number and email.
3. Complete the Common Incentive Form on the portal, choose the SC/ST entrepreneur scheme, and select the Technology Acquisition component.
4. Upload the annexures; caste certificate, Udyam acknowledgement, agreement, patent or institute proof, and the CA-certified expenditure statement.
5. Submit and note the application number, then print the acknowledgement.
6. Deliver a self-certified hard copy with the same annexures to the MSME Commissioner's office at Udyog Bhavan, Sector 11, Gandhinagar 382017. The published guideline for the equivalent MSME component states that offline submission at that office is accepted where the online module is not yet live.
7. Respond to the scrutiny query if the office asks for clarification, then wait for the sanction order from the MSME Commissioner.

How is the claim assessed and paid?

The MSME Commissionerate scrutinises the file, and under the resolution's sanction table proposals under Scheme 6 are sanctioned and disbursed by the MSME Commissioner's office rather than the District Industries Centre. Royalty is computed only after successful technology acquisition, and the guideline for the equivalent MSME component says royalty is counted from the first sale bill raised after commercial production begins. Assistance is released as reimbursement into the enterprise's bank account, subject to availability of the sanctioned grant for the financial year under budget head 2852 to Industries.

How do you check the status of your application?

1. Sign in to ifp.gujarat.gov.in with the credentials used to file.
2. Open the incentives dashboard and search using your application number.
3. Read the stage shown, submitted, under scrutiny, query raised, sanctioned or disbursed.
4. For a file stuck at scrutiny, contact the MSME Commissioner's office on +91 79 23252619 or +91 79 23252689 quoting the application number.

Why applications get rejected

• Late filing. More than one year between signing the agreement and seeking prior approval is the single most common fatal defect.
• Unpatented technology from a private company. Reviewers check the patent number against the register.
• Machinery invoices inside the claim. Any plant and machinery line item is struck out, and a claim built mainly on machinery collapses.
• Weak SC/ST proof. A firm claiming on shareholding must show the 51% threshold in its own constitutional documents, not just a promoter's certificate.
• Double claiming. The same expenditure already reimbursed under another State scheme is disallowed.
• Trading or service activity discovered during inspection.

Where to get help

• MSME Commissionerate / Industries Commissionerate, Udyog Bhavan, Sector 11, Gandhinagar 382017, +91 79 23252619, +91 79 23252689, +91 79 23252682.
• Email: icim@gujarat.gov.in and icioim@gujarat.gov.in, as published on the Industries Commissionerate website.
• District Industries Centre in your district for first-level help with Udyam registration and portal filing.
• Investor Facilitation Portal grievance module at ifp.gujarat.gov.in for written complaints about delay.

No agent or consultant can guarantee sanction, and no fee is payable to any official for registering an application on the Investor Facilitation Portal.