R&D Reimbursement Scheme (Goa Start-up Policy)

What is the Goa R&D Reimbursement Scheme?

R&D Reimbursement Scheme is the Government of Goa's research subsidy for home-grown startups, administered by the Startup and IT Promotion Cell (SITPC) under the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications. The scheme exists for one stated purpose: to promote innovation amongst Goans and local start-ups, by paying half the cost of the research a young company carries out before it has revenue to fund research from.

According to the scheme notification hosted on goaonline.gov.in, 50% of R&D expenses, including salaries of qualifying research employees, will be reimbursed for a period of two years, subject to a cap of Rs 5 lakh per annum, with the salary component not exceeding Rs 2 lakh within that. The benefit can be availed by a maximum of 100 startups each year.

The scheme originated in the Goa Start-up Policy 2017, continued under the Goa IT Start-up Policy 2021, and is listed among the schemes of the Goa Startup Policy 2025, which describes it in the same terms: 50% of R&D expenses, including salaries of employees holding a PhD and Master's degree, reimbursed for two years, capped at Rs 5 lakh per annum with a Rs 2 lakh salary limit.

What makes this scheme unusual

Two conditions set R&D Reimbursement apart from every other incentive in the Goa startup stack. First, it is restricted to local start-ups. The other schemes accept any certified startup. Second, it requires prior approval before the expenditure is incurred. Most of the Goa schemes are pure after-the-fact reimbursements; this one is not, and founders who treat it that way lose the claim.

Who is eligible for the R&D Reimbursement Scheme?

A startup can claim if:

• It is a local start-up certified by the Startup and IT Promotion Cell, holding a valid startup certificate number.
• At least 50% of the equity or shareholding is held by one or more Goans continuously since the time of inception.
• It is in the R&D stage and developing technology or products in the domains specified in the policy.
• It has a working prototype of the technology or product.
• The employee whose salary is claimed holds a PhD or equivalent from a Government-recognised institute. The currently published scheme page extends this to PhD or Master's degree holders.
• That employee was hired for a period of at least 12 months.
• The bank accounts of both the directors and the claimed employees are linked to Aadhaar.
• The expenditure was incurred after notification of the policy being claimed under, within its validity, and was paid digitally.
• The applicant has taken prior approval from the Cell in the prescribed format.

Preference is given to startups working on a technology or product that has successfully applied for or obtained a patent.

You cannot apply if:

• Your startup is not a local start-up, for example a Goa-registered company whose Goan founders hold less than 50% equity, or whose Goan shareholding was acquired after inception rather than held continuously since inception. Such a company is not eligible for this particular scheme, though it may qualify for Seed Capital, Trademark or Salary Reimbursement.
• You are an individual researcher or an academic. The scheme reimburses a certified startup entity. Technology educators in Goa's technical institutes should look instead at the Technology Fellowship and Patent Promotion Scheme.
• You have no working prototype, or your work is still at concept stage.
• The researcher whose salary you are claiming does not hold the required qualification, or was hired for less than 12 months.
• You spent first without prior approval from the Cell.
• The bank accounts are not Aadhaar-linked, for either directors or the claimed employees.
• The claim is filed more than six months after the expenditure.
• The 100-startup annual cap is exhausted.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the R&D Reimbursement Scheme

1. Confirm you are a local start-up. Check your cap table: at least 50% of equity must be held by one or more Goans continuously since inception. A Goan is a person born in Goa, holding 10 years or more of Goa domicile, or the spouse of such a person through a Goa-registered marriage.
2. Get certified by the Cell. Register on startup.goa.gov.in and obtain your startup certificate number from the Startup and IT Promotion Cell.
3. Take prior approval before you spend. Submit the application in the prescribed format to the Cell, setting out the R&D programme, the researchers to be engaged and the expected expenditure. This step is mandatory and is what most failed claims skip.
4. Run the R&D and keep books to Accounting Standard 18. Classify research and development expenditure as the Institute of Cost Accountants of India standard requires, pay digitally, and retain invoices.
5. File the claim online. Log in to the startup single-window on goaonline.gov.in and select the R&D Reimbursement Scheme service. Upload the expenditure statement, salary records, qualification certificates, prototype evidence and Aadhaar linkage proofs, within six months of the expenditure.
6. Respond to scrutiny. The Cell inspects and verifies the application and performs due diligence on the expenses claimed.
7. Receive the decision and the money. Approval or rejection is notified within 45 days of a complete application; disbursement follows within 60 days of approval. The benefit may be availed bi-annually or annually across the two-year window.

How to apply offline

1. Visit the Startup and IT Promotion Cell, IT HUB, 2nd Floor, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001.
2. Submit the prior-approval application first, and later the claim form, each with the complete document set.
3. Collect the acknowledgement carrying your reference number.

The scheme text also permits the form and documents to be e-mailed to spc-dit.goa@gov.in.

How the money works out in practice

A local Goa startup employs one PhD researcher at Rs 30,000 a month, spending Rs 3.6 lakh a year on that salary, and a further Rs 6 lakh on lab equipment, cloud compute and testing across the same year. Total R&D spend is Rs 9.6 lakh.

• Fifty per cent of Rs 9.6 lakh is Rs 4.8 lakh, below the Rs 5 lakh annual ceiling.
• But within that, the salary component is 50% of Rs 3.6 lakh, or Rs 1.8 lakh; under the Rs 2 lakh salary sub-cap, so it passes.
• The claim therefore stands at Rs 4.8 lakh for the year, and the same exercise may be repeated in year two.

If the same startup had employed two PhD researchers, the salary half would reach Rs 3.6 lakh and would be cut back to the Rs 2 lakh sub-cap, reducing the total claim accordingly. The sub-cap is the constraint that catches research-heavy teams, and it is worth modelling before you hire.

Why R&D reimbursement claims get rejected

• Not a local start-up — Goan equity below 50%, or not held continuously since inception.
• No prior approval taken from the Cell before the expenditure.
• Researcher lacks the required qualification, or the certificate is from an institute that is not Government-recognised.
• Employee hired for less than 12 months.
• No working prototype to demonstrate.
• Expenditure not classified per Accounting Standard 18, so the Cell cannot verify what is genuinely R&D and what is ordinary operating cost.
• Cash payments without a digital trail.
• Claim filed beyond six months of the expenditure.
• Bank accounts not Aadhaar-linked for directors or claimed employees.
• Annual cap of 100 startups already exhausted.

Key dates and policy history

• 2017: R&D Reimbursement Scheme notified under the Goa Start-up Policy 2017: 50% of R&D expenses, Rs 5 lakh per annum cap, Rs 2 lakh salary sub-cap, two years, 100 startups a year, restricted to local start-ups.
• 2021: Carried into the Goa IT Start-up Policy 2021 under the Startup and IT Promotion Cell, with the qualification widened in the published scheme page to PhD or Master's degree holders.
• 2025: Listed among the schemes of the Goa Startup Policy 2025 on the same financial terms. The policy runs three years from gazette notification, with startups registered under the 2017 and 2021 policies expressly grandfathered.

No fixed annual last date is announced. The binding deadline is the six-month window from the date of expenditure, and the prior-approval requirement means the planning has to start well before that.

Help and grievance redressal

• Startup and IT Promotion Cell helpline: 1800-233-5060
• E-mail: spc-dit.goa@gov.in
• Office: IT HUB, 2nd Floor, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001
• Scheme details: startup.goa.gov.in/StartupIncentives
• Claim filing: goaonline.gov.in startup single-window

The Cell is the competent authority to accept or reject any claim, and its decision is stated to be final and binding. Where a decision is overdue past 45 days, use the helpline and the departmental nodal officer that the Goa Startup Policy 2025 requires each department to appoint.

How to check your application status

The R&D Reimbursement Scheme has two stages where an applicant needs to track progress: the prior-approval request filed before the expenditure begins, and the reimbursement claim filed afterward. Both move through the same channel, so the tracking method is the same for either.

1. Log in to the startup single-window. Go to goaonline.gov.in and sign in with the credentials used to submit the prior-approval or claim application.
2. Open "My Applications" or the equivalent service tracker. The portal lists every service request raised under the applicant's account, each tagged with the reference number issued at the time of submission.
3. Match the reference number. Locate the entry for the R&D Reimbursement Scheme prior-approval or claim, and check the status field against it, typically shown as submitted, under scrutiny, or approved and disbursed.
4. Read the remarks column, if the status is stuck. The Cell sometimes flags a query or a missing document there before it will move the file forward; the applicant is expected to respond through the same portal rather than wait it out.

If the online status has not changed and the 45-day decision window from a complete application has passed, the fallback is direct contact rather than repeated portal checks:

• Call the Startup and IT Promotion Cell helpline: 1800-233-5060, and quote the reference number generated at submission.
• Write to spc-dit.goa@gov.in, again citing the reference number and the date of filing.
• Visit in person at IT HUB, 2nd Floor, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001, particularly if the application was filed offline, since offline submissions do not always show up with the same granularity on the online tracker.

Because the scheme runs prior approval and reimbursement as two separate filings, an applicant should track both reference numbers independently rather than assuming a status update on one carries over to the other. An approved prior-approval status only clears the applicant to spend; it does not mean the eventual reimbursement claim has been received or processed, and that claim needs to be tracked on its own once filed.