FY2026 Oita City SME Capital Investment Subsidy (Standard Quota & Decarbonization Promotion Quota)

The FY2026 Oita City SME Capital Investment Subsidy supports small and medium-sized enterprises (including sole proprietors) located in Oita City that invest in production equipment to improve management, drive innovation, and strengthen competitiveness. The program has two tracks: a Standard Quota covering general production equipment, and a Decarbonization Promotion Quota covering designated energy-saving equipment. Eligible equipment must be necessary for the production/processing workflow. Applicants must first contact the Oita City Entrepreneurship & Management Support Division for prior consultation. Eligible applicants are SMEs (including sole proprietors) that maintain a place of business within the city, have been operating for at least 12 months, have fully paid municipal taxes, are not in poor financial condition, and do not fall under the definition of a small-scale enterprise. SMEs are defined under Article 2, Paragraph 23 of the Act on Strengthening Industrial Competitiveness; however, SMEs where a single large enterprise owns at least 1/2 of shares, multiple large enterprises own at least 2/3, or at least half of officers are concurrently officers/employees of large enterprises are excluded. For the Standard Quota, eligible expenses include machinery and equipment (manufacturing equipment, general-purpose machinery, industrial machinery; excludes heavy construction vehicles) and building-attached equipment (power electrical, water supply/drainage for product washing/cooling, gas, boiler, substation equipment). The Decarbonization Quota targets designated equipment listed by the Sustainable open Innovation Initiative (SII) such as commercial water heaters, high-efficiency boilers, cogeneration, refrigeration, industrial heat pumps, press machines, transformers, industrial motors, machine tools, and printing machines. PCs, cameras, air conditioners, LED lighting, lease/rental fees, vehicles, software updates, demolition, removal of existing equipment, administrative expenses, and consumption tax are ineligible. The subsidy rate is 1/2 of eligible expenses, with a maximum of JPY 1.5 million for the Standard Quota and JPY 3.0 million for the Decarbonization Quota. Applications open May 1, 2026 and close when budget is exhausted. A review committee convenes the month following submission, and notification is issued in the first half of the second following month. Equipment must be operational and payment completed by March 31, 2027. Contracts/purchases made before approval are ineligible. Generally two or more quotations from city-based vendors are required. Three years of post-grant monitoring via financial reports applies.