EU invites India to join euro research programme
By PTI |
Highlights
NEW DELHI: The European Union on Thursday invited India to participate in its 54 billion Euro science and research programme that will run for five years.
"India will be the most important and first partner in the Seventh Framework Programme (FP 7), which is an important instrument of innovation. I would like to invite India to new possibilities and opportunities in the field of scientific research through this initiative," Minister for Education and Research of Germany Anntte Schavan, which also holds EU Presidency, said.
The invitation was extended at India-European Union Ministerial Science Conference organised by CII and was accepted by Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal. The programme will fund research and development activities by companies, government organisations and universities across diverse sectors like IT, biotechnology, energy and environment.
Sibal said energy was the key sector where India and the EU could work in close cooperation. "Energy was the key issue and most important challenge and India and EU can work on research, development and deployment of clean-coal energy, solar energy and hybrid fuels for automobiles," he said.
Sibal said flow of information between India and the EU was inadequate and suggested creation of a digital directory that sets out information across various sectors on both sides.
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"The Government is putting a biotech strategy in place, which would be a law soon. It would entitle the owner of an intellectual property to 30 per cent of the total earnings for commercialisation of a patent. In addition, the policy would also allow the entrepreneurs to spin off their companies for collaboration with firms outside India," he added.The FP7 programme offers higher funding for SMEs, high budget for research in collaboration with the private sector for six areas have been identified, in which research would be conducted based on PPP model. A new financing facility has been developed with the financial institutions of the European Union.
"The programme also supports creation of demand for technology products and safeguarding Intellectual Property Rights of the researchers," European Commission Research Commissioner J Potocnik said.
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