The scheme to promote individual entrepreneurs, Technopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP) launched by the central government will get enhanced funds. The budget for the Technopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP) of the Union Ministry of Science & Technology has been hiked to Rs 60 crore. During the previous Plan, Rs 8 crore was disbursed un¬der TePP against the targeted disbursal of Rs 10 crore. The number of outreach centers engaged in the pro¬motion of innovation under TePP is also set to go up from 20 at present to 30 by end-March 2009.

The TePP is a joint initiative un¬der the Department of Scien¬tific & Industrial Research (DSIR) and the Department of Science & Technology. The programme is aimed at fund¬ing project ideas of indepen¬dent innovators who are not attached to any institutional framework.
Contrary to other science and technology support programmes, the TePP is not aimed to support invention but, but in¬novation. The uniqueness and marketability of the product is the criterion determining the credibility of the project.

The maximum fund allocated for individual scheme is set at Rs 15 lakh. During the previous disbursals, the average funding were in the Rs 3-4 lakh range. Around two hundred innovators have been provided assistance un¬der TePP scheme so far.

A major shift in the implementation of the TePP initiative is that the programme has now extended to several uncov¬ered areas across the country through network partners and outreach centres.

Tags : technopreneur innovation promotion programme,government expenditure