The government on Friday said that media reports regarding the alleged conflict of interest in the disbursement of funds to companies under the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme by the Technology Development Board (TDB) are “misleading, incorrect, and lack proper context”.

The Ministry of Science and Technology shared facts regarding the robust evaluation mechanisms, strict conflict of interest guidelines, and merit-based selection processes followed by TDB.

It said that a comprehensive and robust ‘Conflict of Interest’ policy is firmly in place at TDB.

“This policy has been followed systematically over a long period without any complaint, grievance, or irregularity reported from any quarter,” the ministry further stated.

The rigour and merit-based selection process of TDB is further validated by independent external assessments.

Out of the 22 projects approved by TDB in its first cohort, 15 projects were independently selected by separate expert panels constituted by the Ministry of Education, following which they represented India at the prestigious Bharat Innovate Event held in Nice, France.

“This independent validation clearly demonstrates that the selected companies are truly cutting-edge Deep-Tech innovators, chosen entirely on technical merit, innovation potential, and national importance,” according to the statement.

Prior to the commencement of the first Investment Committee (IC) meeting, TDB framed detailed Pre-Investment Guidelines /Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs).

“These guidelines explicitly lay down the conditions under which a potential conflict of interest arises. Whenever a member has a potential conflict, the policy mandates full disclosure and complete recusal of the concerned member from all discussions and decision-making processes regarding that entity,” said the ministry.

Moreover, it stated that TDB has strictly adhered to these guidelines in true spirit.

All funding decisions were taken purely on merit as per the Implementation Guidelines of the RDI Fund, with zero involvement of any conflicted members during the evaluation or sanction process of concerned proposals, according to the official statement.