CSIR has 37 laboratories across India. Which CPIO should I address my RTI to — the CSIR Headquarters CPIO or the individual lab CPIO?

The answer depends on the nature of your query. Each CSIR laboratory — such as NCL Pune, CDRI Lucknow, CECRI Karaikudi, CSIO Chandigarh, IGIB Delhi, IIIM Jammu, or any of the other 37 labs — has its own designated CPIO and is itself a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act. If you want information specific to a particular lab (e.g., patents filed by NCL, royalty income of CDRI, MoUs signed by CECRI), address your RTI directly to the CPIO of that lab. If you want aggregate national-level data (e.g., total patents granted across all CSIR labs, national policy on technology transfer, CSIR-level budget), address it to the CPIO at CSIR Headquarters, Anusandhan Bhawan, New Delhi. Filing at HQ for lab-specific data frequently results in a transfer under Section 6(3) of the RTI Act, which consumes time; it is more efficient to identify and approach the correct lab CPIO at the outset. CSIR's website (csir.res.in) lists the contact details and RTI officers for each laboratory.

Can RTI obtain the specific royalty rates and full commercial terms of CSIR's technology transfer agreements with companies?

This is the most commonly restricted category in CSIR RTI requests. Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act exempts information including commercial confidence, trade secrets, or intellectual property whose disclosure would harm the competitive position of a third party — unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants disclosure. CSIR may invoke this provision to withhold specific royalty percentage rates, milestone payment schedules, and detailed commercial terms of technology transfer agreements, on the ground that disclosure would prejudice the licensee company's competitive position or CSIR's own negotiating position in future transactions. However, what is generally not exempt includes: the fact that a licence was granted, the name of the licensee, the broad technology area, whether the licence is exclusive or non-exclusive, and aggregate income received. If CSIR withholds any portion of a document under Section 8(1)(d), it is required under Section 10(1) of the RTI Act to sever the exempt portions and provide the rest. If you believe the refusal is unjustified, challenge it through the First Appeal and, if necessary, the Second Appeal to the Central Information Commission (CIC).

Is CSIR a public authority under the RTI Act? It is a registered society — does that affect RTI applicability?

Yes, CSIR is a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005, and the RTI Act fully applies to it. CSIR is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, but it is substantially financed by the Central Government (through grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology) and functions under the administrative control of the Government of India. Section 2(h)(d)(ii) of the RTI Act includes within the definition of 'public authority' any body owned, controlled, or substantially financed directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate government. CSIR satisfies this criterion clearly. All 37 CSIR national laboratories, being constituent units of CSIR, are equally covered. This has been consistently recognised in CIC orders concerning CSIR and its laboratories.

I want data on a specific research grant received from an industry sponsor. Is that confidential under RTI?

Research grant records — amounts received, disbursement timelines, utilisation certificates, and project completion reports — are administrative financial records maintained by CSIR laboratories and are generally disclosable under RTI. The fact that a grant came from a private industry sponsor does not automatically make it exempt; the relevant test under Section 8(1)(d) is whether disclosure would harm the competitive position of a third party (the sponsor) by revealing a trade secret or commercial confidence. Routine financial data such as the grant amount, the project title, the sponsor's name, and the utilisation status is unlikely to pass that test. However, if the grant agreement contains clauses about background IP, foreground IP assignment to the sponsor, or detailed proprietary research methodologies, those specific clauses might be withheld. Ask clearly and separately for financial utilisation records versus the substantive research content — the former is almost always disclosable while the latter may attract Section 8(1)(d) depending on what is in the underlying agreement.

What should I do if the CSIR CPIO does not respond within 30 days, or denies my request without adequate reasons?

File a First Appeal under Section 19(1) of the RTI Act with the First Appellate Authority (FAA) at the relevant CSIR laboratory or CSIR Headquarters (as applicable) within 30 days of the date of decision or expiry of the 30-day response period, whichever is applicable. Address the appeal to the First Appellate Authority (not the CPIO), clearly state your original RTI registration number, the date of filing, and the specific ground for appeal — whether no response was received, the response was incomplete, or the claimed exemption (e.g., Section 8(1)(d)) was incorrectly applied. If the FAA's decision is also absent or unsatisfactory, file a Second Appeal with the Central Information Commission (CIC) under Section 19(3) of the RTI Act within 90 days of the FAA's decision or the expiry of the period for that decision. CSIR and all its laboratories are Central Government public authorities; the second appeal goes to the CIC, not any State Information Commission. The CIC has the power to impose a penalty of ₹250 per day (up to ₹25,000) on a CPIO under Section 20 of the RTI Act for failure to comply without reasonable cause.

Home/Guides/How to File RTI with CSIR — Patents, Technology Transfer, Research Grants and Lab-Industry Agreements

Central Government

How to File RTI with CSIR — Patents, Technology Transfer, Research Grants and Lab-Industry Agreements

Step-by-step guide to file an RTI with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for patents filed and licensed by CSIR labs, technology transfer fee and royalty records, research grant utilisation by sponsor, and lab-industry MoU or collaboration terms. Includes guidance on Section 8(1)(d) commercial-confidence exemptions, how to approach the correct CSIR lab CPIO, and a ready-to-use sample RTI draft.

Updated 1 Jun 2026

Quick Facts

MinistryMinistry of Science and Technology

Address RTI ToCPIO, CSIR Headquarters, Anusandhan Bhawan, 2 Rafi Marg, New Delhi – 110001

Application Fee₹10 under RTI (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2005. Free for BPL cardholders.

Response Time30 days from receipt (Section 7(1), RTI Act 2005). 48 hours if the matter involves life or liberty.

File Online Athttps://rtionline.gov.in

All information on this page is based on the Right to Information Act, 2005 (Act No. 22 of 2005) and the RTI (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2005. First Appeal: Section 19(1). Second Appeal to CIC/SIC: Section 19(3).

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is India's largest publicly funded research and development organisation. Established in 1942 and registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, CSIR operates under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Science and Technology and is headed by the Prime Minister of India as its President. It runs a network of 37 national laboratories spanning disciplines that include chemical science (NCL Pune), drug research (CDRI Lucknow), electrochemical technology (CECRI Karaikudi), scientific instruments (CSIO Chandigarh), genomics and integrative biology (IGIB Delhi), Himalayan bioresources (IHBT Palampur), structural engineering (SERC Chennai), and many others.

CSIR is a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005 — it is substantially financed by the Central Government and functions under its direct control. All 37 CSIR laboratories, being constituent units of CSIR, are equally covered by the RTI Act. Researchers, public interest litigants, journalists, industry stakeholders, and recruitment candidates regularly use RTI to access information about patents and licensing, technology transfer, research grant utilisation, lab-industry collaboration agreements, and recruitment examination results.

What CSIR Must Disclose and What May Be Withheld

Understanding the disclosure boundary is important before filing, because CSIR's work involves both administrative records (fully disclosable) and commercially sensitive technology transfer agreements (partially or fully withheld under Section 8(1)(d)).

Information Generally Disclosable

Category	What You Can Request
Patents filed and granted	Number of patent applications filed and patents granted by a lab, by technology domain and year
Licensee details	Name of licensee companies, broad technology area, whether licence is exclusive or non-exclusive
Aggregate licence income	Total technology transfer fee and royalty income per lab or for CSIR nationally, per financial year
Research grants — financial data	Amounts received from each sponsoring agency, project-wise utilisation, utilisation certificates
MoU / collaboration agreements — non-commercial portions	Existence of the MoU, parties involved, broad scope and duration, deliverables framework
Recruitment / exam records	Your own marks, cut-off marks, selection criteria, weightage formula for CSIR lab recruitments
Sanctioned and filled posts	Number of scientist and technical posts sanctioned vs. filled at a specified lab
Annual reports and published outputs	Already-published CSIR or lab annual reports, unclassified research summaries, technology profiles

Information That May Be Withheld

Category	Exemption
Specific royalty rates and milestone payment schedules	Section 8(1)(d) — commercial confidence / trade secrets
Detailed commercial terms of technology transfer agreements	Section 8(1)(d) — competitive position of licensee or CSIR
Proprietary research methodologies in externally funded project agreements	Section 8(1)(d) — if disclosure would harm sponsor's IP position
Internal deliberations of interview / selection panels	Section 8(1)(e) — deliberative process; only aggregate marks to candidate are disclosable

Importantly, Section 10(1) of the RTI Act requires the CPIO to sever the exempt portions and provide the remainder when a document contains both disclosable and exempt information. A blanket denial of an entire technology transfer agreement on Section 8(1)(d) grounds — without providing the non-commercial sections — is not compliant with the Act.

Which CPIO to Approach: CSIR HQ vs. the Specific Lab

CSIR's decentralised structure means that each of the 37 national laboratories has its own designated CPIO. The correct approach is:

For lab-specific information (patents filed by NCL, royalty income of CDRI, MoUs of CECRI, grant utilisation at CSIO, recruitment at a specific lab): address your RTI to the CPIO of that laboratory directly. Filing at CSIR HQ for lab-level data will typically result in a transfer under Section 6(3) of the RTI Act, which costs seven additional days.
For national or aggregate information (total patents across all CSIR labs, CSIR-wide budget, national policy on technology transfer, CSIR HQ recruitment): address your RTI to the CPIO at CSIR Headquarters, Anusandhan Bhawan, 2 Rafi Marg, New Delhi – 110001.

CSIR's website at csir.res.in maintains an RTI section listing the CPIO, FAA, and contact details for each laboratory. Verify the current CPIO before filing, as the designated officer changes with transfers and promotions.

Common RTI Use Cases

Patents filed and licensed by a specific CSIR lab: Researchers, patent attorneys, and industry players frequently seek data on what patents a particular CSIR laboratory has filed in a given period, which have been licensed, and to which companies. The basic patent bibliographic data is a public record (filed patents are also published by the Indian Patent Office). RTI from CSIR can supplement this with lab-level statistics and licensing status.

Technology transfer fee and royalty income: Civil society organisations, journalists, and parliament researchers use RTI to understand how much revenue CSIR earns from licensing its publicly funded research to industry. Aggregate figures are available in CSIR's annual reports; RTI can obtain more granular data per lab or per year where the annual report does not provide the breakdown required.

Research grant disbursement and utilisation: Academics and science-policy researchers seek lab-wise or project-wise utilisation of grants from sponsors such as DST, DBT, DRDO, MeitY, ICAR, and international agencies. The utilisation certificates and financial progress reports maintained by the lab's accounts section are administrative records and fully disclosable.

Lab-industry MoU and collaboration agreement terms: MoUs between CSIR labs and private companies govern collaborative research, access to CSIR infrastructure, and sometimes IP sharing. The existence, parties, scope, and deliverable framework of such agreements are disclosable; specific royalty or IP assignment terms may attract Section 8(1)(d). Be specific in your request and ask CSIR to sever and provide the non-exempt portions.

Recruitment examination results: CSIR labs recruit scientists, technicians, and administrative staff through their own examinations. Candidates use RTI to obtain their marks, the applicable cut-offs, and the selection criteria — the same approach used for any competitive examination by a Central Government body.

Where to File

Go to rtionline.gov.in and click Submit Request
Select Ministry of Science and Technology → Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (for CSIR HQ) or navigate to the specific CSIR laboratory listed under CSIR if available on the portal
Draft your application — be specific about which lab's data you need, the financial year or date range, and whether you want aggregate figures or transaction-level details
Pay ₹10 online. BPL cardholders are exempt — upload a copy of your BPL card with the application
Submit and note the registration number; you will need it for follow-up and any appeal

If the specific CSIR laboratory is not listed separately on rtionline.gov.in, file at the CSIR Headquarters entry and clearly state in your application text that the information relates to Name of Lab and request transfer to the appropriate lab CPIO under Section 6(3) if required.

Appeals

First Appeal (Section 19(1)): If the CPIO does not respond within 30 days, or the response is unsatisfactory — information denied, partially provided, wrongly exempted, or inaccurate — file a First Appeal with the First Appellate Authority (FAA) at the relevant CSIR laboratory or CSIR Headquarters. File within 30 days of the date of decision or expiry of the 30-day response period, whichever is applicable. Quote your original RTI registration number and state the specific ground: no response, partial denial, or incorrect invocation of Section 8(1)(d).

Second Appeal (Section 19(3)): If the FAA's decision is also absent or unsatisfactory, file a Second Appeal with the Central Information Commission (CIC) within 90 days of the FAA's decision or the expiry of the FAA response period. CSIR and all its laboratories are Central Government public authorities; the second appeal goes exclusively to the CIC under Section 19(3), not any State Information Commission. The CIC has the power to impose a penalty of up to ₹25,000 on a defaulting CPIO under Section 20 of the RTI Act.

Sample RTI Application Draft

To,
The Central Public Information Officer (CPIO),
[CSIR Headquarters, Anusandhan Bhawan, 2 Rafi Marg, New Delhi – 110001
 OR
 CPIO, [Name of CSIR Lab, e.g., National Chemical Laboratory], [Full Address]]

Subject: Application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 — Patents Filed and Licensed, Technology Transfer Fee Records, Research Grant Utilisation, Lab-Industry MoU Terms, and Recruitment Examination Results

Sir/Madam,

I, [Your Full Name], residing at [Your Full Address], submit this application under Section 6 of the Right to Information Act, 2005, to seek the following information:

1. The total number of patents applied for and patents granted in the name of [Name of CSIR Lab / CSIR in general] during the financial years [YYYY-YY] and [YYYY-YY], broken down by technology domain (e.g., chemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, materials, instrumentation) to the extent such a breakdown exists in available records.

2. A list of patents filed or held by [Name of CSIR Lab / CSIR HQ] that have been licensed to third parties (industry, companies, or individuals) during the period [DD/MM/YYYY] to [DD/MM/YYYY], indicating for each: (a) the patent number or application number; (b) the name of the licensee; (c) the broad technology area; (d) whether the licence is exclusive or non-exclusive; and (e) the total licence fee / upfront fee received, if available in existing records. (Note: specific royalty rates and detailed commercial terms may be withheld under Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act if CSIR treats them as commercial confidence — please provide the non-exempt portions and specify which parts, if any, are withheld and under which provision.)

3. The total technology transfer fee and/or royalty income received by [Name of CSIR Lab / CSIR HQ] from technology licensing and technology transfer agreements during each of the financial years [YYYY-YY] and [YYYY-YY], as contained in audited accounts or annual reports.

4. The total research grants received by [Name of CSIR Lab / CSIR HQ] during the financial year [YYYY-YY], broken down by sponsoring agency or department (e.g., DST, DBT, DRDO, MeitY, industry sponsors), along with the expenditure incurred against each grant as of [date], to the extent available in existing financial records.

5. A copy of, or a reference to where I may access, any Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or collaboration agreement entered into by [Name of CSIR Lab / CSIR HQ] with [Name of Company/Industry Partner, if known, OR any industry partner] during the period [DD/MM/YYYY] to [DD/MM/YYYY]. If specific commercial terms within the MoU are withheld under Section 8(1)(d), please provide the remaining portions and specify the exemption.

6. The category-wise results (merit list or selection list) of the recruitment examination conducted by [CSIR / CSIR-UGC NET / Specific CSIR Lab] for the post of [Post Name] during the recruitment cycle [Year / Advt. No.], including: (a) cut-off marks for each category (General / OBC / SC / ST / EWS / PwD); (b) my own marks, Roll Number [XXX], in the written examination and any further selection stage; (c) the selection criteria and weightage formula applied.

I am enclosing the application fee of Rs. 10 [via online payment; Reference No.: [Payment Ref]].

I request the above information within 30 days as required under Section 7(1) of the RTI Act, 2005.

Yours sincerely,

[Your Full Name]
[Your Complete Address]
Phone: [Your 10-digit Mobile Number]
Email: [[email protected]]
Date: [DD/MM/YYYY]

Replace all text in [square brackets] with your actual details before filing. Do not include the brackets in your submission.

Frequently Asked Questions

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