Funding:
The projects approved under IHRD and RSoP scheme will be fully funded by Ministry of Power. It is expected that projects under the NPP scheme are 50% funded by MoP and 50% by a collaborating Industry.
Components of financial outlay of the project
The expenditure pertaining to the project proposal such as Equipment, Instruments, Travel, Consultancy, Hiring charges for temporary research staff, overheads and miscellaneous & incidentals can be built into the cost of the project. Generally, overhead charges @10% is allowed to be built into the cost of the project. Projects with the objective of only carrying out simulation studies and purchase of expensive software packages is not encouraged under this scheme.
Inclusion of salary component of permanent research staff is not encouraged. However cost towards hiring temporary research staff for the duration of the project is acceptable.
EXPERT REVIEW
The proposals as and when received by CPRI are sent to external domain experts from various eminent Institutions and put up for techno-economic evaluation by a Technical Committee appointed by Director General, CPRI. Presently there are four technical committees pertaining to a specific domain viz. 1) Transmission 2) Generation-Thermal 3) Generation-Hydro 4) Grid, Distribution, and Energy Conservation.
TECHNO-ECONOMIC EVALUATION
The project proposals reviewed by experts will be evaluated by Technical Committee which is chaired by Professors from IITs and has participation from Utilities and Industry. The principal investigators will be normally required to defend their project at the Technical Committee meetings. The Committee while undertaking techno-economical evaluation specifically examines aspects of deliverables of the project and their impact on the Utility/Power Sector at large before recommending the proposal to the Competent Authority for approval.
PROJECT APPROVAL AND COMMENCEMENT:
Proposals recommended by Technical Committee after Techno-Economic evaluations are put up to the Competent Authority for according approval. Director General of CPRI is the approving authority for proposals having outlay up to 50 lakhs. Other projects are vetted by the Standing Committee on R&D (SCRD) chaired by Chairperson, CEA. The SCRD after thorough evaluation of the merit of the proposal grants approval for the project.
Once approved, the formal sanction and release of grant will be sought from the Ministry of Power. Communication of the approval and release of first installment of the grant will immediately be done after signing of MoU between CPRI and Project Implementing Organization.
QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORTS (QPR):
It is the responsibility of Principal Investigator to furnish the progress (Technical and Financial) of the project for each quarter within a month after completion of the quarter. For the purpose of furnishing quarterly reports, the 1st quarter starts in April of every financial year. The QPRs are to be furnished in the prescribed formats for reporting technical & financial progress respectively.
FUND UTILIZATION CERTIFICATE (UC):
Principal Investigator shall submit the Fund Utilization Certificate for the released amount immediately after exhaustion of funds. Satisfactory technical progress and submission of progress reports and utilization Certificates as per the specified format are pre-requisites for release of further tranche for the project.
PROJECT MONITORING:
The R&D Management department monitors the projects by analysing the data submitted through QPR and UC. Progress of the projects is reviewed by the Technical Committee at Bengaluru or in some cases at respective investigating organizations.
PROJECT COMPLETION & TECHNICAL REPORT:
The investigating agency shall make a presentation to the Technical Committee once the project is completed. Prior to this, CPRI will scrutinize & analyze the final results of the project and give a report to the Technical Committee.
The Technical Committee finally declares that the project is completed with the deliverables as stipulated in the original project proposal.
DISSEMINATION:
The information on technologies / products developed as part of research scheme is currently available on CPRI website. The Project Investigators are encouraged to conduct workshops and seminars for dissemination of the knowledge.
WHO CAN SUBMIT THE PROPOSAL?
- Power Utilities
- Academic Institutes
- R&D Institute
- Manufacturers
Collaborative proposals are also encouraged under this scheme.
WHEN AND HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL?
- Research proposals can be sent any time during the year to CPRI.
- The formats for submission of proposal and other details pertaining to the scheme are available on the CPRI Web site under the respective schemes or can be obtained by writing to Head, R&D Management Division.
- Proposals prepared in the format should be submitted through the head of the respective institution to Head, R&D Management Division CPRI.
- The Principal Investigator is normally required to make presentation on the proposal to the Technical Committee.
- Technical Committee meets only 2-3 times in a year for techno-economic evaluation and recommendation of projects to the Competent Authority for according approval.
- Recommendations of the Technical Committee will be communicated to the Principal Investigator through e-mail.
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