India, EU to set up fund for nanotechnology research

Nov 7, 2007, 13:42 GMT

New Delhi - India and the executive arm of the European Union will set up a corpus fund of 10 million euros (14.7 million dollars) for research in nanotechnology, a top European Commission official said Wednesday.

'We are for a joint call which will focus on collaborative research. The effort will receive support of about 5 million euros from each party,' the commission's director general for research, Jose Manuel Silva Rodriguez, said at a news briefing in New Delhi.

Rodriguez is on a two-day visit to India to attend the fourth EU- India Science and Technology Cooperation Steering Committee meeting scheduled for Thursday.

'Through this initiative, best institutions in India and the EU will have the opportunity to work together in this important field,' Rodriguez was quoted as saying by IANS news agency. He said the project funding may start as early as May 2008.

'We are meeting Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal to decide finer nuances of the research areas,' Nicholas Hartley, acting head of industrial technology for the commission, said.

'Both the EU and India have enormous potential in this field. We have not signed any such agreement with any other country,' Hartley added.

Thursday's steering committee meeting is expected to discuss strategic initiatives and finalize details of the first EU-India coordinated call for research proposals.

More than 100 Indian research institutions have participated in over 80 research projects funded by the EU.

India and the EU signed a science and technology cooperation agreement in 2003.