F. No. 9(9)/2013-R&A

Government of India

Ministry of Corporate Affairs

5th Floor, ‘A’ Wing, Shastri Bhawan,

Dr. R.P. Road, New Delhi-110001,

Dated 24.12.2014

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Uploading of Guidelines for “Funding Research and Studies, Workshops and Conferences etc.” under the Plan Scheme ‘Corporate Data Management’ of the Ministry.

Consequent upon the approval of the new Central Sector Plan Scheme ‘Corporate Data Management’ of the Ministry for implementation during the next two years of the Twelfth Five year Plan (2015-17), it has been decided with the approval of the competent authority, to place the approved guidelines (Annexure) on the website of the Ministry for general information.

2. The Ministry is in the process of finalizing the formats of Applications for proposals for research, studies, conferences, seminars, workshops etc. under the guidelines. The Ministry would invite applications in due course of time.

3. This may be placed in pdf format under “News and Updates” Section for the time-being on priority basis, and be moved to the “MCA guidelines” Section later on as per usual procedure.

(E. Nagachandran)

Deputy Director

011-23073734

To

Deputy Director (e-governance),

Ministry of Corporate Affairs,

Shastri Bhawan, R.P. Road,

New Delhi-110001.

Annexure

GUIDELINES FOR FUNDING RESEARCH AND STUDIES, WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES ETC. UNDER THE PLAN SCHEME “CORPORATE DATA MANAGEMENT” OF THE MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS

I. INTRODUCTION

1.1. “Funding Research and Studies, Workshops and Conferences etc.” is conceived as a component part of a Central Sector Plan Scheme, titled “Corporate Data Management” proposed to be implemented by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The major focus is to utilise the wealth of data available with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs by way of sponsoring Research, Studies and Surveys etc. in areas related, inter alia, to corporate growth in overall macro-economic perspective.

1.2. This would also include funding of Seminars, Workshops, Conferences, Symposia and Publications (Reports, Books and Monographs) which extract knowledge primarily from the MCA database and other sources, having implications for corporate governance and faster, sustainable and inclusive growth.

1.3. This is to be implemented by the Research and Analysis Division of the Ministry, under the supervision of a “Technical Committee” constituted under Paragraph 3.1 below.

1.4. The procedure for approving grant-in-aid, monetary ceilings, advances, instalments etc. would be as prescribed in the following paragraphs. Aspects not directly covered in these guidelines will be regulated by the provisions of the General Financial Rules of the Government of India.

II. OBJECTIVES

2.1. The primary objective of “Funding Research and Studies, Workshops and Conferences etc.” is to better utilise the repository of corporate sector data available with the Ministry under the MCA21 e-governance system, with a view to extract knowledge from data that will eventually inform policy and facilitate decision making in a market driven economy. The following illustrative list of themes for research, studies, conferences etc. has been identified:

(i) Financial Inclusion and shareholders democracy;

(ii) Corporate Bond Markets;

(iii) Investor Protection and Investor Education;

(iv) Performance of corporates (contribution to GDP, investment, revenue, profitability etc.);

(v) Corporate governance;

(vi) Corporate social responsibility;

(vii) Competition law and practice;

(viii) Consumer protection vis-à-vis corporate functioning;

(ix) Transparency in corporate functioning;

(x) Ease of Doing Business; and

(xi) Social Audit of corporate sector functioning.

2.2. Research, Studies and surveys, Publication (Reports, Books and Monographs) of results of Research Studies, and Dissemination of knowledge (Seminars, Workshops, Conferences and Symposia at the National level or international level) acquired/ built through results of Research Studies, whether undertaken through funding under these guidelines or otherwise, on the above subjects, fulfilling the objectives will be considered for grant-in-aid, under these guidelines.

2.3. The purpose of Seminar etc. should be to:

(a) stimulate an informed discussion or debate on research themes/topics, essential to corporate sector growth, enlightened regulation and positioning of corporates as responsible citizens, and

(b) identification of problems and identification of remedial measures to pre-existing problems that would help corporate sector growth and/or re-orient practices of the Government/ corporate sector, with active participation of, and partnership with the institutes of repute, as well as renowned names in the relevant field.

2.4. The proposals for conducting Research, Studies, Surveys, Publication (Reports, Books and Monographs), holding of Seminars, Workshops, Conferences and Symposia etc. are referred to as ‘proposals’ hereinafter in these guidelines.

III. APPROVAL PROCESS

3.1. All proposals (whether proposed by the Ministry itself or received from the Applicants) would be placed for consideration of grant-in-aid before the Technical Committee, consisting of:

Economic Adviser, MCA- Chairperson

Director (IFD), MCA- Member

Director (Statistics), MCA- Member

Two Non-official Experts to be nominated by the Inter-Ministerial Advisory Group-Members

Director (R&A), MCA-Member-Secretary

3.2. The functions and powers of the Technical Committee will be :

(i) The Technical Committee may add to, delete from, or otherwise amend, the above list of issues/ themes/ topics in Paragraph 2.1;

(ii) The Technical Committee may accept/reject any proposal fully or partly and to require modification of any component including the scope, coverage, methodology, timelines, deliverables, or time or venue, as the case may be, while finally recommending the disbursal of a grant in respect of any proposal;

(iii) Formats of applications/ project proposals seeking funding/ grant-in-aid, under these guidelines will be finalised with the approval of the Technical Committee. These would be placed on the website of the Ministry for general information;

(iv) The Technical Committee may recommend the assignment of specific projects of interest to the Ministry to a Partner Organization, by issuing “Terms of Reference”. “Partner Organization” means the organisations functioning under the aegis of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, i.e., the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Institute of Cost Accountants of India and the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs;

(v) The Technical Committee may invite tenders regarding specific projects of interest to the Ministry by issuing “Request for Proposals”;

(vi) The Technical Committee may call for progress report on the study/ research undertaken, at periodic intervals, starting from the date of approval/ sanction of the project;

(vii) The Technical Committee may take expert opinion as to assess or review an on-going research/study; and

(viii) The Technical Committee may, in its discretion, call off the processing of a project, whether before or after the approval of a grant, if it appears to the Technical Committee that the project is not worth pursuing at Government cost.

3.3. Upon receipt of the minutes of the meeting of the Technical Committee, as approved by its Chairperson, containing the recommendations on each case considered by it, whether to fund, part-fund, reject a proposal or withdraw/cancel a grant already sanctioned, the corresponding files will be processed by the Research and Analysis Division for administrative and financial approvals. The files will be routed though the IFD for the approval of Secretary, MCA. The approval, if and when received, will be executed by issue of orders of sanction and release of funds or by orders of cancellation, as the case may be.

IV. ELIGIBILITY

4.1. Institutions/Organisations i.e., those Societies, Trusts and Non-Profit Companies which fulfil the following Expertise and Standing specifications will be eligible to apply for funding/ grant-in-aid under these guidelines:

(A) Specifications of Standing:

(i) The Applicant (Institution/Organisation) must have valid registration as society, trust, non-profit company etc. for at least three years;

(ii) The Applicant (Institution/Organisation) must have been working in research/ survey projects in the past for at least three years preceding; and

(iii) Educational qualifications and research capabilities of the full-time professionals and technical human resource should commensurately reflect domain knowledge.

(B) Expertise, wherewithal and level of commitment: The Institution must

(i) possess expertise in designing research and statistical analysis for economic interpretation;

(ii) be equipped with hardware and tools for handling large-scale data; and

(iii) be able to dedicate experts/ professionals during the term of the research/survey project as their main activity (not merely as a subsidiary activity), so as to ensure adequate levels of commitment and timeliness in delivery of the results.

4.2. Individuals with proven levels of commitment and expertise will also be eligible for applying for funding/ grant-in-aid for research, studies, surveys and publications, under these guidelines.

4.3. No organisation which has commercial interest in the proposal shall be considered for grants under these guidelines. No project which is funded, fully or partly by any international organisation or a multi-national company or a multi-national trust, shall be considered for funding under these guidelines.

4.4 Breach of any condition contained in the sanction letter, or suppression of any material fact concerning the eligibility/ ineligibility of an applicant would render the defaulting party liable for being black-listed or debarred from receiving any grant under these guidelines for a period specified by the Technical Committee.

V. FORM OF ASSISTANCE AND DISBURSAL

5.1. The grant-in-aid in respect of a proposal to an Institution will not exceed ₹ 15,00,000/- (Rupees fifteen lakh only), and the corresponding ceiling in respect of an individual will be ₹ 5,00,000/- (Rupees five lakh only). In case a project proposal is proposed to be part-funded by other organisation(s) also, the details thereof shall be submitted as early as possible, and in no case later than two weeks after the funding from the other organisation(s) is/are confirmed.

5.2. The Schedule of disbursal of grant would generally be as follows:

Research Proposals
Instalment	Amount	Conditions
First	40%	On issue of sanction letter.
Second	40%	On submission of first draft. A presentation will be arranged in MCA to discuss draft Report/ findings.
Final	20%	Upon acceptance of the report and submission of requisite number of hard and soft copies of complete set of all documents used and report.

Proposals for Seminars, Conferences etc.
Instalment	Amount	Conditions
First	60%	On issue of sanction letter.
Final	40%	On submission of the Report of the proceedings of the conference etc. with a complete set of all documents used and the final conclusions/ recommendations.

Funding Research and Studies under Corporate Data Management sets eligibility, approval process, compliance obligations and grant disbursal procedures. The guidelines create a scheme component to fund research, publications and dissemination events using MCA21 data, establish a Technical Committee to vet and amend proposals, and prescribe eligibility for non profit institutions and qualified individuals while excluding projects with commercial or multinational funding. The Committee's recommendations are processed for administrative and financial approval, grants are subject to ceilings and staged disbursal tied to deliverables, and breaches or suppression of eligibility may trigger blacklisting; unaddressed matters follow the General Financial Rules.