Below is the list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding ACICs. This serves as a ready reference for clearing most of the queries regarding the program. We advise you to study the ACIC guidelines in detail. The terms mentioned in guidelines are non-negotiable and we expect all our shortlisted applicants to adhere to the same. AIM will not entertain any specific relaxation to the guidelines.
If there is any query which is beyond the ones listed here, please write to the AIM team at acic-aim@gov.in.
The primary focus for establishment of ACIC is to nurture ideas benefiting society and nation and help transform them into commercially successful product with major focus on Ideation stage to Prototype/MVP Development of the Innovation Cycle. ACIC in the specific focus area will also provide an “Advanced Tinkering Space” to encourage utility innovation, supported by Design Thinking Modules to serve the society.
Establishment of ACICs would be in the following focusing areas:
1. Both academic and non-academic applicants are invited to apply for establishment of ACIC in the desired area as defined in the ACIC guidelines. Further details are given below:
| Eligible Academic Applicants | Eligible Non-Academic applicants |
|---|---|
| UGC and AICTE affiliated Universities / Colleges | Voluntary and other organizations having good experience and exposure in awareness and promotion of Science and Technology in the country |
| Educational Institutions like ITIs & other technical diploma colleges |
2. All applicants of the ACIC program must have a minimum of 3 years of existence on the last date of the call for application which shall be the cutoff date for all the eligibility conditions.
3. To assure sustainability of the ACIC for the period of 5 years, all non-government applicants (private academic or private institutions) must show documented evidence of profitable operations over past 3 years prior to the date of submission of the application
Atal Innovation Mission is encouraging the partnerships between academic and non-academic institution for facilitating innovation lead offering of products, services and processes to local industries with a special focus on MSMEs.
The applicant will have to provide at least 4000 sq. ft. of ready-to-use, net carpet area for the exclusive use of the ACIC. The space should be owned or leased by the applicant.
1. Both academic and non-academic applicants are invited to apply for establishment of ACIC in the desired area as defined in the ACIC guidelines. Further details are given below:
| Eligible Academic Applicants | Eligible Non-Academic applicants |
|
|
2. All applicants of the ACIC program must have a minimum of 3 years of existence on the last date of the call for application which shall be the cutoff date for all the eligibility conditions.
3. To assure sustainability of the ACIC for the period of 5 years, all non-government applicants (private academic or private institutions) must show documented evidence of profitable operations over past 3 years prior to the date of submission of the application.
Yes, apart from government institutions / entities, privately run academic as well as non-academic institutions (NGOs involved in the promotion of S&T, Innovation, Intellectual Property awareness and promotion) shall also be considered as entities establishing ACIC if they have collaboration with funding partner(s) (corporates, PSUs etc.) which might be willing to match the contribution by AIM, NITI Aayog (as per the budget plan).
No, LLPs are not eligible applicant to apply for getting grant-in-aid to establish ACIC supported by AIM. In case of Pvt Ltd, the applicant has to have company formation 5 years or Old and will be required to produce their IT returns for Five Years or more to support their application. Such applicant can’t accept any CSR out of their own firm or out of their group companies.
Yes Pub Ltd Co / PSUs are eligible to apply to establish ACIC supported by AIM in the focused area as mentioned in Guidelines (i.e. T2-T3 cities, AD, NE, J&K and unserved / underserved parts of our country) In case of such applicants, they have produce the supporting details of the company formation (5 years or Old) and will also require to submit their IT returns/Annual returns for Five Years or more to support their application. Such applicant can’t accept any CSR out of their own firm or out of their group companies.
Only UGC and AICTE affiliated Universities / Colleges can apply for establishment of ACIC. They will be required to upload the supporting affiliation documents while submitting their application.
Yes, ITIs and Diploma Colleges who have outperformed in developing and deploying indigenous innovations can apply for establishment of ACIC in their institutions. They will be required to provide supporting documents of their active engagement in IP and Innovation promotion activities as required in application.
ACICs will be established through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The Host institution has to avail matching or greater contribution from the funding partner/applicant of at least 50% or up to 80% cost. The maximum support will be Rs. 2.5 crs from AIM, NITI Aayog.
Public Private Partnership (PPP) to enable support for financial sustainability and encourage participation of central agencies, PSUs, other legal entities etc. to mobilize resources for running the program.
Under special circumstances for managing the operations or expansion, the SPV establishing ACICs can receive funds from other than government institutions to fetch capital expenditure, operational support, infrastructure expansion, seed capital and to build the corpus of SPV for managing the operations of ACIC in delivering the objectives as defined under these programs. For getting the funds through Govt / Govt Institutions they will be required to follow GFR norms.
Under the program, applicants are desired not to have any partial holding by any non-Indian legal entity or any non-Indian individual as prescribed by DPIIT. In case of foreign funding, the ACICs have to follow the rules defined for the same purpose by Government of India. The necessary approval shall be required for the said purpose from Atal Innovation Mission and other partner funding entities following mandatory applicable rules as prescribed by Government of India.
For promotion of innovation in education system, ACIC is encouraged to attract CSR funds from corporates and PSUs to enable financial sustainability over and above the support provided under PPP Mode or as part of PPP Funding. The CSR received for the purpose of ACIC must be utilised for the objectives defined in the program guidelines.
Yes, Applicants can apply for their self-funded matching support to get ACIC. They will be required to show the matching contribution in their accounts for getting the grant-in-aid from Atal Innovation Mission.
All applicants will have to set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), a not-for- profit Company under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. If an applicant is unable to set up the SPV due to the nature of the organization or due to an existing SPV within the host organization then they may reach out to AIM and AIM has the discretion to provide the host applicant with an alternate solution for hosting the ACIC within the host applicant or through the already existing SPV itself. In either case the ACIC and the host applicant will have to abide by the guidelines and rules set by AIM. The applicant will have to maintain separate books of accounts under not-for-profit to manage the Grant-in-Aid for the project.
No, SPV is required to be formed after selection of applicant for grant-in-aid support under ACIC Program by Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog. A separate directive shall be issued to applicants who are selected for establishment of SPV.
Yes. All applicants will have to set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), a not-for- profit Company under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. If an applicant is unable to set up the SPV due to the nature of the organization or due to an existing SPV within the host organization then they may reach out to AIM and AIM has the discretion to provide the host applicant with an alternate solution for hosting the ACIC within the host applicant or through the already existing SPV itself. In either case the ACIC and the host applicant will have to abide by the guidelines and rules set by AIM. The applicant will have to maintain separate books of accounts under not-for-profit to manage the Grant-in-Aid for the project.
No, it is not mandatory to include business partner at this stage of application but for operational & financial support to aspiring startups, applicants can explore at a later stage without any dilution in SPV norms / MoA clauses.
If the applicants can self-fund the matching contribution for ACIC, there is no requirement for a partnership with corporate or PSU. They will be required to show the matching contribution in their accounts for getting the grant-in-aid from Atal Innovation Mission. However, in case they do not have the funds to match the contribution for ACIC, applicants can partner with corporates, PSUs and other agencies to get the funds.
The criteria of selection shall vary based on the location of the applicant and the present status of innovation ecosystem in the region of the applicant. Applicants from unserved/underserved areas like North-east, Aspirational Districts etc. will be grouped and evaluated separately to give them a fair chance of selection.
The selection of the ACIC shall be done by an independent Screening-cum-Selection Committee (SSC) constituted by Atal Innovation Mission. We will issue directions to evolve a transparent system for selection of Startups / Innovators for the selected ACICs. The startup would be admitted subject to fulfilling the admission criteria and the ACIC shall enter into an appropriate agreement with the Startups / Innovators.
The duration of support from ACIC for the innovator will be at the discretion of the selected ACICs.
As and when the call for applications is open and available on the AIM website. Apart from filling up the online application form, the applicants are required to upload the business plan and budget plan, registration document, letter of declaration and other necessary documents as mentioned in the application form.
The entire application form is attached in Annexure V of the ACIC guidelines (which can be downloaded from the site). You can view the necessary documents for the application there.
The detailed floor plan of proposed ACIC is to be provided as engineering drawing of the finalized space and uploaded as .pdf file having size less than 1 MB.
The location map where the proposed ACIC is to be established is to be submitted to support the claim of applicant among the different type of applicant category for getting the grant-in-aid for establishment of ACIC.
The Name of the applicant in Annexure II will be the name of the highest authority of the Institution.
Yes, they can apply for any such programs parallelly, but they can get Grant-in-Aid for any one of such programs. If they have availed grant-in-aid from one such program for same location with the same objective and scope of activities, then they can’t get the funding from other agency for similar or substantially similar scope of work at the same location.
The complete details about Atal Community Innovation Centre (ACIC) is periodically updated on AIM website. www.aim.gov.in/acic.php and aspiring applicants can also send their queries to acic-aim@gov.in. The Program Director of ACIC can also be approached for specific queries.
