Government proposes to invest Rs 1,227 cr through EDF to push IPR in electronics

The government has proposed to contribute Rs 1,227 crore through electronic development fund to boost intellectual property rights in the field of information technology and electronics.

According to information updated on Ministry of Electronics and IT, the total corpus recommended to be invested by 22 daughter fund in technology firms is around Rs 10,906 crore, in which government has proposed to contribute Rs 1,227 crore, subject to final approval of the EDF board.

When contacted about status of EDF, a Meity official said the government has so far approved investment in 13 daughter funds.

"EDF will be investing in 13 daughter funds over a period of 4-5 years. The total targeted corpus of these 13 daughter funds is Rs 6,950 crore and the amount committed by EDF to these 13 daughter funds is Rs 857 crore," Meity spokesperson said.

Electronics Development Fund (EDF) is set up as a "Fund of Funds" to participate in professionally managed "daughter funds". The daughter funds, which directly connect with beneficiaries, in turn are providing risk capital to companies developing new technologies and IPRs in the area of Electronics, Nano-electronics and Information Technology (IT).

Canara Bank's wholly owned subsidiary Canbank Venture Capital Funds Ltd (CVCFL) manages EDF and the Meity is anchor investor of EDF, which was launched in February 2016.

At the end of second quarter of 2018-19, EDF has invested Rs 53.52 crore in six daughter funds, which have made investments of Rs 177.37 crore in 47 ventures and startups.

"Total employment in supported startups was around 4,200," the spokesperson said.

According to the website, nine of the daughter funds with corpus of around Rs 2,938 crore under EDF are already operational.