Call for Project Proposals: DST-Water Technology Cell (India)

Thematic Areas

• Water Availability, Distribution, and Management
• Water Quality, Monitoring and Treatment
• Waste Water Recycling and Management for Industrial, Domestic and Community based Solution.

Scope of Call

The call would include the following components:

• Applied Research Stream: Leading to the establishment of Proof-of-Concept.
  • Concept: The proposal should explore innovative ideas with a view to showcase the unique advantages of the idea over existing alternatives and to demonstrate that their innovative idea has the ability to address a significant end-user need. This has to be substantiated by clear articulation of need supported by a quantitative performance statement from the participating user.
  • Eligibility: The proposals are to be led by faculties/scientists working in a regular position in recognized Academic Organizations/Public funded R&D Institutions/Laboratories, Central and State government autonomous organisations State S&T councils.
  • Project Cost: Not exceeding ₹1 crore (indicative) where equipment cost is not expected to exceed 30% of the project cost. Overheads are admissible as per DST norms above these costs.
  • Project duration: 3 years’ maximum.
• Technology Development Stream: Leading to Lab Scale Demonstration.
  • Eligibility: The proposals have to be submitted in the Institute – Industry/User partnership mode only. The proposals are to be led by faculties/scientists working in regular position in recognized Academic Institutions, Public funded R&D Institutions/Laboratories, State S&T councils in partnership with other academic/R&D organisations, state-line departments, S&T-based voluntary organisations, DSIR recognized SIRO organization etc. Participation of industries, user, start-ups and industry associations is strongly recommended and needed. The role of industry in the proposal should be tangible and it should show interest in promoting or encouraging the developed technology. The company/industry should be willing to contribute in the form of industry attributable technical inputs and resources with at least 10% of the project cost in cash.
  • Project Cost: No ceiling
  • Lab Scale Demonstration plant costs will be admissible based on the project requirement. However, other equipment cost should not exceed 30% of the project cost.
  • Project duration: 2 years’ maximum.
• Technology Assessment Stream: Leading to Pilot-Scale demonstration of technology in the field setting.
  • Concept: The stream includes grants to Academic/R&D Institute(s), for setting up of pilot demonstration plant, provided the partnering user demonstrates a willingness to validate the technology by providing tangible inputs to the project.
  • Eligibility: The proposals are to be led by faculties/scientists working in a regular position in recognized Academic institutions, Public-funded R&D Institutions/Laboratories in partnership with other academic, R&D organizations, DSIR-recognized R&D organizations, industries, and Users (Utility, Panchayat, Municipal Corporation, Urban Development Authority, etc). Participation of industries, users, start-ups, and industry associations is strongly recommended and essential.
  • Project cost: Not exceeding ₹2 crores (indicative) where equipment cost is not expected to exceed 30% of the project cost. Overheads are admissible as per DST norms above these costs.
  • Project duration: 2 years maximum (18 months for installation and 6 months for assessment of technology).
• Convergent Solution Stream
  • Concept: Leading to customised sustainable convergent solutions including techno-socio economic environmental assessment for mounting sustainable solutions for a population of approx. 10,000.
  • This stream envisages:
    • Customized convergent technological solutions to address prevalent and emerging water challenges in selected clusters.
    • Techno-socio-economic environmental assessment of technology options in clusters of credible population size (say 10,000 or more). Also, up-scaling of convergent solutions successfully demonstrated under various research, development and demonstration programmes for a larger population (say 1,00,000 or above). For upscaling, successful demonstration needs to be proven.
  • Eligibility: The proposals have to be submitted in consortium mode only. The consortium is expected to be led by faculties/scientists working in a regular position in recognized academic institutions, public-funded R&D Institutions/Laboratories, state S&T councils in partnership with other academic/R&D organisations, state line departments, S&T-based voluntary organizations etc. Participation of industries/start-ups is also welcome, wherever applicable. The consortium should essentially include at least a user having an interest in the intervention, a solution designer, and a solution provider. The role of solution designer and provider can be assumed by the same organization if the organization has the required expertise and experience.
  • Project cost: No ceiling.
  • Project duration: 3 years’ maximum.

Evaluation Criteria

• The proposals would generally be evaluated based on the following criteria. However, the weightage of each of these criteria will vary depending upon the anticipated output of each stream:
  • Relevance of the proposal with the Call
  • Demand or need for proposed work
  • Credibility Track Record and commitment of the Project Team
  • Novelty, feasibility, and scientific merit of proposed work
  • The superiority of the proposed work over existing alternatives. (not applicable for applied research stream)
  • Proposed formulation with a clear definition of problem the proposal is going to solve, why it is important, clear articulation of methodology, and delineation of roles and responsibilities
  • Potential, Technical, social, environmental, and economic viability of proposed work.

For more information, visit Department of Science & Technology (DST).