Funding Competition: India – UK Collaborative R&D for Industrial Sustainability

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £5 million in innovation projects in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

The aim of this competition is to fund collaborative research and development (CR&D) projects between the UK and India focused on sustainability.

Your project must demonstrate:

• a clear game changing or disruptive innovative idea leading to new products, processes or services
• a strong and deliverable business plan addressing market potential and needs
• sound, practical financial plans and timelines
• value for money
• a clear, evidence-based plan to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation, as soon as possible after project completion
• clear potential to significantly benefit the UK economy or national productivity
• the benefits and value of participants from the countries working together
• a clear definition of where intellectual property (IP) can be used and shared between the participants and countries
• a clear route to exploitation or commercialisation
• Your project must focus on one or both of the following themes.
• Sustainable materials and manufacturing

Your project must focus on at least one of these areas:

• enabling technologies for sustainability, including digital solutions, sensors and controls, bio-based feedstocks, waste recycling and value-added processes for waste streams
• new supply chain and business models for the manufacturing, materials or foundation industries (glass, paper, cements, ceramics, chemicals and metals), including, but not limited to, the move to a circular economy, industrial symbiosis, co-location and servitisation
• new and efficient production processes for the manufacturing, materials or foundation industries, including, but not limited to, transformative low temperature processes, waste heat capture and recovery systems, planning optimisation
• smart design for resource efficiency and through-life value using effective design methods​
• next generation materials involving the discovery, scaling, processing and adoption of advanced and sustainable materials​
• other sustainability improvements for the manufacturing, materials or foundation industries
• Power electronics, machines and drives

Your project must focus on one or more of these areas:

• power electronic semiconductor fabrication or device packaging, including innovations in Gallium Nitride and Silicon Carbide
• power conversion innovations including invertors and convertors for any application, such as electric vehicles or energy systems
• electric machine design innovations, including design for manufacture, for any application
• electric machine control innovations, including design and manufacturing
• magnet manufacturing and end of life recycling solutions
• electric vehicle (EV) chargers
• 2 and 3 wheeler electric vehicle powertrains.

Funding Information

• UK applicants must apply for a grant funding request of between £100,000 and £300,000 per project.
• Your project must:
  • have a grant funding request of between £100,000 and £300,000
  • start by 1 March 2024
  • end by 31 August 2025
  • last between 6 and 18 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead Organisation
  • To lead a project your organisation must:
    • be a UK registered business of any size
    • be or involve at least one grant claiming UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
    • collaborate with an Indian registered business, which must be a separate legal entity, not linked to the UK partners
• UK Project team
  • To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
    • business of any size
    • academic institution
    • research and technology organisation (RTO)
  • Each UK partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once accepted, partners will be asked to login or to create an account and enter their own project costs into the Innovation Funding Service.

Projects they will not fund?

• They will not fund projects that:
  • work on non-civilian applications
  • are not in scope
  • do not meet Innovate UK’s eligibility criteria
  • do not have an eligible Indian partner
  • do not submit all mandatory documentation
  • request grant of below £100,000 or more than £300,000 from Innovate UK
  • They cannot fund projects that are:
  • dependent on export performance, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country
  • dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product.

For more information, visit Innovate UK.