Table of Content

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

INTRODUCTION:

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 (MCA). The major focus is to utilize 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.
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.

3. This is to be implemented by the Research and Analysis (R&A) Division of the Ministry, under the supervision of a "Technical Committee” constituted under Paragraph

2.5 below.

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.

1.5 The primary objective of “Funding Research and Studies, Workshops and Conferences etc.” is to better utilise the repository of corporate sector data available with theMinistry under the MCA2I 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.

1.6. “Funding Research and Studies, Workshops and Conferences etc.” will have two components viz:

(i) Funding Research and Studies, Workshops and Conferences etc. through outside agencies (ii) In-house research in R&A Division, MCA by engaging Young Professionals.

(i) Funding Research and Studies, Workshops and Conferences etc. through outside agencies

2.1The following illustrative list of themes for research, studies, conferences etc. has been identified:

1. Investor Protection and Investor Education;
2. Performance of corporates (contribution to GDP, investment, revenue, profitability etc.);
3. Competition law and practice;
4. Corporate Debt Structure and leveraging;
5. Corporate Frauds, Early Warning System;
6. Corporate Governance;
7. Corporate Social Responsibility;
8. Analysis of utilisation of funds mobilized by Corporates through IPOs etc.
9. Ease of Doing Business;
10. Bankruptcy and Insolvency issues; and
11. Issues relating to emergence of Producer Companies in India.

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.

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

1. 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

2. 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.

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.

5. APPROVAL PROCESS

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:

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

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

2. 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;

3. 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;

4. 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;

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

6. 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:

7. The Technical Committee may take expert opinion as to assess or review an on- going research/study, and

8. 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.

7. 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 through 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.

8. ELIGIBILITY

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:

1. The timeline of the projects should be 3 to 9 months only.
2. The research should involve substantial use of MCA2I data. Also, all cleaned data files along with methodology adopted in cleaning the data would have to be shared with MCA in detail.
3. MCA21 data would need to be purchased from CDM Division of MCA and its cost may be incorporated in funding the proposal itself.
4. MCA, in future, would provide a broad priority list of topics from which research proposals would be sought from domain experts or prospective researchers/institutes.
5. Specifications of Standing:
   1. The Applicant (Institution/Organisation) must have valid registration as society, trust, non-profit company etc. for at least three years;
   2. The Applicant (Institution/Organisation) must have been working in research/ survey projects in the past for at least three years preceding; and
   3. Educational qualifications and research capabilities of the full-time professionals and technical human resource should commensurately reflect domain knowledge.

6. Expertise, wherewithal and level of commitment. The Institution must:
   1. possess expertise in designing research and statistical analysis for economic interpretation;
   2. be equipped with hardware and tools for handling large-scale data; and
   3. 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.

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.
3. No organisation which has commercial interest in the proposal shall be considered for grant 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.

2.8.4 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 periods specified by the Technical Committee.

2.9 QUANTUM OF ASSISTANCE AND DISBURSAL

2.9.1 (a) The grant-in-aid in respect of a proposal to an Institution will not exceed Rs. 15,00,000/- (including GST/ Taxes), and the corresponding ceiling in respect of an individual will be Rs. 5,00.000/- (including GST /Taxes). 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.

b. Budget of the proposal should not include any cost of hardware and software procurement.

c. Travel cost, if any should be properly justified for consideration of the Technical Committee.

2. MCA data use is mandatory in research studies that require use of company finance

& related data. Cost of procuring data from MCA21 can also be incorporated in the overall cost of the proposal itself. (Guidelines for purchase of MCA21 data by researchers/institutions may be seen at Annexure-I)

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

The research proposal can be submitted both online at cdm.research@mca.gov.in or in Hard copy to Joint Director (R&A Division), 8th Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan, Khan Market, New Delhi-110003.

(ii) In- house Research by engaging Young Professionals

2.10 The main objective to engage Young Professionals is to fulfil the intense internal research requirement of Ministry of Corporate Affairs as the provisions and impact of Companies Act, The Limited Liability Partnership Act, The Competition Act, The Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code are evolving and are likely to evolve quite fast in future as well. Thus, in-house research, would help provide dynamic policy inputs to MCA in a more systematic fashion.

2.11 The scheme of engaging Young Professionals in R&A Division, MCA under the funding “Research & Studies, Workshops and conferences etc.” component of the plan Scheme “Corporate Data Management” shall be regulated as per the following guidelines:

2.11.1 Requirement:

6 (Six) Young Professional – I

2 (Two) Young Professional – II

Exclusively for R&A Division. If other divisions seek YPs, those will be hired through R&A over & above these number.

  2.11.2 Job Profile and other requirements

2.11.3 Tenure

The contractual engagement will be for a period of one year initially. After successful completion of one year to the satisfaction of the Divisional Head, will be given extension of two or more years from the date of initial joining.

2.11.4 Age Limit (At the time of Hiring)

35 Years for Young Professional – I and 40 Years for Young Professional – II

2.11.5 Remuneration: The remuneration will be paid as under:-

2.11.5.1

The future revisions in remuneration of YPs by MCA would also be applicable mutatis mutandis, on YPs engaged under CDM Scheme in R & A Division of MCA.

There has been minor amendment in Para 2.11.1 -2.11.5.1 over the previous Guidelines, as per the approval of AS & FA and Secretary, MCA vide Note# 43 &Note #70 dated 17th February, 2021 & 17th March, 2021 respectively (e-File: 184705) and again vide the in- principle approval of Secretary, MCA, vide Note # 344, AS&FA’s concurrence vide Note #356 and SCA’s final approval in vide Note # 371 dated 27.01.2025 of the aforesaid file (e-file:184705).

2.11.6 Leave: Young Professionals shall be eligible for 8 days leave in a calendar year on pro-rata basis. Therefore, a Young Professional shall not draw any remuneration in case of his/her absence beyond 8 days in a year calculated on a pro-rata basis. Also unavailed leave in a calendar year cannot be carried forward to the next calendar year.

2.11.7 TA/DA: No TA/DA shall be admissible for joining the assignment or on its completion. Young Professionals will not be allowed foreign travel on Government expenses.

2.11.7.1 General Conditions for engaging Young Professionals:

Candidates with requisite qualifications and experience as prescribed would be eligible for being engaged as Young Professional. However, the engagement as Young Professionals shall not be considered as a case of re- employment.

2. Young Professionals would be engaged for a fixed period for providing high quality services to the R&A Division, MCA for attending to specific and time- bound jobs.
3. The appointment of Young Professionals would be on full time basis and they would not be permitted to take up any other assignment during the period of employment with Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
4. The appointment of’ Young Professionals is of temporary (non-official) nature and the appointment can be cancelled at any time by the Ministry as per provisions mentioned in para 2.11.11 below, or even without assigning any reason.

2.11.9 Composition of the Selection Committees for Engagement of Young Professions - I & II

The existing Technical Committee in component I (para 2.5) also acts as the Selection Committee, which will be as under:

The recommendations of the Selection Committee after being concurred in by the JS&FA shall be submitted to Secretary, MCA for approval.

2.11.10 Confidentiality

1. The Candidates may not, except with a previous sanction of Ministry of Corporate Affairs in the bonafide discharge of his/her duties, publish a research or any research related article anonymously or in the name of any other person, if such research or research related article uses any information that he/she may gather as a part of this assignment.
2. Young Professionals engaged by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, shall in no case represent or give opinion or advice to others in any matter which is adverse to the interest of Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

2.11.11 Termination Notice

Ministry of Corporate Affairs reserves the right to terminate the contract. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs can cancel the appointment at any time if;

1. The Young Professional is unable to address the assigned work,
2. Quality of the assigned work is not to the satisfaction of the Ministry,
3. The Young Professional fails in timely achievement of the milestones as decided by the Ministry,
4. The Young Professional is found lacking in honesty and integrity.

However, in the normal course the Ministry will provide one month’s advance notice to the Young Professional before termination of the contract. The Young Professionals can also

seek for termination of the Contract upon giving one month’s notice to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

2.11.12 Verification

The police verification of the Young Professional shall be done as per the latest instructions issued by MHA.

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Annexure-I

Guidelines for obtaining data from MCA-21 by Researchers for research proposals shortlisted under the Funding Research and Studies, Workshops and Conferences etc. component of scheme “Corporate Data Management” of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs

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” (CDM) proposed to be implemented by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). The major focus is to utilize the wealth of data available with MCA-21 by way of sponsoring Research, Studies and Surveys etc. in areas related, inter alia, to corporate growth in overall macro-economic perspective.
2. One of the components of the research component of CDM is: Funding Research and Studies, Workshops and Conferences etc. through outside agencies, wherein thetechnical committee as prescribed in the guidelines selects research proposals to be funded through this component. The detailed guidelines in this regard can be seen at Annexure- I. It may be observed from the guidelines that use of MCA-21 data by researchers is mandatory for executing these research proposals.
3. To facilitate the data requirements arising for the research proposals shortlisted for funding, the following may be noted:
   1. Post the selection of the research proposal, the researchers may submit a detailed data requirement from MCA-21 database to R&A Division along with a duly filed undertaking as given in Annexure –II*. The requirement can be submitted both online

atcdm.research@mca.gov.inor in hard copy to Joint Director (R&A Division), 8th

Floor, Lok Bhawan, Khan Market, Delhi-110003.

2. The Cost of obtaining data from MCA-21 for individuals and institutional researchers will be as follows (till Version 3 comes up with their data sharing rates) :

* In case of Institutions having been awarded the research project, the lead researcher will sign the Undertaking and countersigned by Head of the Institution and duly stamped

3. An overhead charge of Rs. 500 for individual researchers and Rs. 1000 for institutional researchers will be charged in addition to the data cost as given in 1.3.2. to cover the cost of consumables etc.
4. The cost of procuring data from MCA-21 as in 1.3.2. can be built in the overall budget of the research proposal.
5. Bank Draft / Cashiers Cheque for the price amount drawn in favor of PAO, Ministry of Corporate Affairs., preferably payable at New Delhi may be sent along with the request for data.

1. Data Categorisation

As per NDSAP implementation guidelines, data sharing framework shall be of two broad categories, sharable and non-sharable. Sensitive data shall only be provided against an authorized request on a case to case basis and post entering into a Non- Disclosure Agreement between MCA and the requestor. For structured, regular data exchange the requestor shall enter into a specific MoU with MCA for that purpose. Data sharing will be done as per the following arrangements:

• Negative list pertaining to non-sharable data
• Sensitive data (Sensitive data as defined in various Acts and rules of the Government of India)
• Restricted Data (data accessible only through a prescribed process of registration and authorization)
• Sharable data (those data not covered under the scope of negative list and non-sensitive in nature)

2.2. Negative List

• The Cost Audit Reports filed by a company has been categorized as highly- sensitive information as it contains several production related details of a company, disclosure of which to public, competitors, etc. would be disadvantageous to the company.
• As per the Information Technology Act 2000 (as amended in 2008), Sensitive Personal Information (SPI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data is Highly Sensitive. All data pertaining to an individual entity shall therefore be classified as Negative List.

2.3.  Sensitive Data

The following categories of data shall be treated as Sensitive:

2.3.1 Data that comes into existence through enforcement functions of MCA: Data generated as part of internal analysis using MCAs internal tools and techniques for profiling as part of Enforcement functions, Risk Analysis, Investigations and Intelligence gathering etc., shall be considered as Sensitive.

2.3.2 Data pertaining to the configuration/technology of MCA’s IT systems/CDM: Data pertaining to the configuration of IT systems shall be considered as Sensitive.

2.3.3 Forensic Data which is available in MCA’s IT system: Various forensic data such as signatures etc. shall be considered as Sensitive.

2.3.4 Data provided to MCA by another government organisations with whom MCA has executed any MoU or NDA: Any data shared with MCA by

any other government organisation/department by virtue of a MoU or NDA shall be considered as sensitive data.

2.3.5 Third party granular transactional data: Third party data supplied by various other regulators shall be treated as sensitive.

2.3.6 Information/data received under International Treaty/Agreements shall also be classified as Sensitive data.

2.4 Restricted Data

Company reports, Alerts/Validation Rules /Provision reports available on CDM system shall be kept under restricted data category. Access to CDM system would require a prescribed process of registration/authorization by MCA.

2.5 Sharable Data

Information contained in all other returns, applications, documents, etc. filed by the company shall constitute as sharable data, and thus may be shared with general public with payment of an appropriate price. Data which is mandated by Statute, other Acts in force and/or policy decisions by the Board to be publically displayed or openly hosted on MCA website/s shall be treated as falling into this category.

Data which is placed on MCA’s website in compliance with the RTI Act, Parliament questions, MCA Master Data, Annual Reports, Monthly information Bulletin Reports etc., shall also fall into this category.

MCA may, at its discretion, decide to openly publish any data which it feels is required in the interest of transparency or public good.

2.6 An illustrative list of sharable data

2.6.1 The following MCA corporate sector datasets may be classified as Sharable Data for dissemination to stakeholders:

1. Financial Aggregates, primarily for policy making, Research & Analysis, by suppressing individual company specific information
   1. At unit level,
   2. Categorization as per Economic activity, private/public, government/non- government,
   3. Listed/unlisted, states of registration, etc.
   4. All financial parameters recorded in the Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss accounts, etc.
   5. Already disseminated data like published reports, PUC based reports shared with RBI, etc.

2. Non- Financial Aggregates

1. Number of new companies registered, working companies, foreign companies, companies under liquidation/closure/merger, etc.
2. Conversion of Private limited companies into Public limited companies, Public limited companies into Private limited companies, and companies into LLP.

Annexure-II

UNDERTAKING

I, Dr./ Mr./ Ms.…………………………………son/daughter/wife of

… resident

of…………………………………………………………………………………………......

...................................................……………………………………………(full address)

and presently working as (designation) in the

(name of institution) having obtained

the data as detailed below:

Details of data required:-

for the purpose of carrying research for the research proposal titled (give title of the

research   proposal   selected   under   CDM)……………………………………………………

… hereby undertake to comply with the

following terms and conditions:

1. Data obtained herewith, will be solely used for the research as described in the research proposal submitted to MCA, mentioned above and the confidentiality of the data will be maintained.

2. The data would be used after understanding the concepts, definitions and design of the data along with a proper appreciation of the limitations and nature of the data and for obtaining meaningful estimates and results.
3. The data obtained as above will not be passed on either wholly or partially with or without profit to any other data user or disseminator of data with or without commercial purpose.
4. The data user shall acknowledge the data source in the final research report/output.

Name and Address:

Signature:

Date :

Email Id :

Contact number:

Office:

Mobile:

(In addition to the above, to be filled in case of Institutional Researcher)

Name of Head of Institution:

Name of Institution:

Office Address:

Contact number:

E-mail Id:

Signature and stamp of Head of Institution:

Date :