Central Tool Room

Choosing between the two tracks

• Pick the on-campus track if you want workspace inside CTR Ludhiana and the shared equipment of the centre.
• Pick the off-campus track if your startup can already operate in the open market, or if another incubator already supports you and you need CIED's domain support. The support package is the same apart from physical space and direct monitoring.

How applications work

• Fill in the application form. Two versions of the form are hosted, with different sections, but both cover the business idea, the team and promoter, the stage of the venture, its market and intellectual-property position, and its finances.
• Present to an evaluation committee for at least 30 minutes, and expect questions afterwards.
• Send supporting documents: a PAN card, passport-size photographs of all promoters, ID proof of the promoters, and permanent address proof.
• The pages give the contact address as info@ctrludhiana.com and also as info@ctrludhiana.org on the incubation contact page. Try both.

How selection works

Selection runs on the published criteria rather than a stage test:

• the product idea, on its technology content, innovation, timeliness and market potential
• the core team's profile
• the presentation you give to the committee
• intellectual-property potential
• financial and commercial viability, and the funds required
• time to market and break-even period
• demand in India and scalability

What the forms expect

• The venture's stage: idea stage, prototype or proof of concept in process, finished proof of concept or prototype, or a product or service already in the market.
• Promoter background, including year of study or graduation.
• Organisation type: academic, a private limited company, or a startup.

Terms to read before you accept

• On-campus incubatees may be asked to sign an incubation agreement, and additionally a seed-fund agreement if they take seed funding, or a technology commercialization agreement if they use CTR technology or intellectual property.
• Incubatees graduate after two years, and earlier on published turnover, profit, outside-investment or headcount triggers.
• Fee, rent and equity terms are not published on the pages, so ask the centre directly before you plan around them.

Central Tool Room Ludhiana is a government tool room in Ludhiana, Punjab, working under the administrative control of the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. It was set up in 1980 as an Indo-German project, under a bilateral agreement on technical cooperation between the Governments of India and Germany. Its incubation arm is the CTR Incubation & Entrepreneurship Development Centre, usually shortened to CIED, which takes startups on campus and supports others off campus.

How programmes work

CIED runs two routes. On-campus incubation gives a team a place to work inside the incubation centre at CTR Ludhiana. Off-campus incubation is for startups and entrepreneurs who can operate in the open market: CIED supports skill, technology and business development, including access to overseas markets, with the same support as on-campus incubatees apart from physical space and direct monitoring. The off-campus route is also open to startups already supported by another incubator who need CIED's domain-area support.

Admission is by written application, followed by a presentation to an evaluation committee of at least half an hour and questions afterwards. Incubatees may be asked to sign an incubation agreement, a seed-fund agreement if they take seed funding, and a technology commercialization agreement if they use CTR technology or intellectual property. The seed-fund agreement sets rules of disbursement and repayment; the pages do not publish an amount or say who can receive it. Incubatees graduate after two years, and earlier if the company passes published turnover or profit thresholds, raises substantial outside investment, or grows past twenty employees. A change of more than half of the equity ownership needs prior approval from the incubator.

Facilities

On-campus incubatees get office space with standard furniture, an internet line of their own, and a phone line whose rentals and bills they pay. Up to two computers come on a rental basis, and more than two can be arranged at market rates. Common equipment includes a printer, photocopier and document scanner, and there is a meeting room with projection equipment and tele- or video-conferencing facilities. One accommodation for a director or promoter may be available depending on availability, and there is one hostel room next to the incubation centre. CIED also describes a co-working environment where entrepreneurs can exchange ideas and network with others.

Access to CTR's own infrastructure and laboratories is something CIED may facilitate under CTR norms, rather than a guaranteed part of the package.

Support

Mentoring is available on request and free of charge, with CTR faculty approached first and an outside mentor brought in when needed. The incubator supports interns and holds regular meetings with incubatees. Accounting, intellectual-property, legal and management experts can be brought in; where an outside professional provides a direct service, the incubatee pays that professional for it. CIED offers help with intellectual property, and a technology commercialization agreement covers incubatees who use CTR technology or IP. For off-campus incubatees, support covers skill, technology and business development, including access to overseas markets.

Who can apply

The pages publish no explicit eligibility rule. The application is for a prospective incubatee with a business idea, and the form covers the business idea, promoter and team details, the stage of the venture, its market and intellectual-property position, and its finances. It also asks for the inventor's year of study or graduation and for the organisation type: academic, a private limited company, or a startup. The form accepts ventures at idea stage, with a prototype or proof of concept in process, with a finished proof of concept or prototype, and with a product or service already in the market. Nothing on the pages restricts applicants to CTR students or alumni.

Who runs it

Central Tool Room works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of India. It was established in 1980 as an Indo-German project under a bilateral agreement on technical cooperation between the Governments of India and Germany. CIED is the incubation and entrepreneurship development arm of that tool room.

Locations

CIED works from the Central Tool Room campus at A-5, Focal Point, Ludhiana, Punjab, with one hostel room next to the incubation centre.