India and Sweden recently announced the India-Sweden Collaborative Industrial Research & Development Programme on the occasion of the Sweden-India Innovation Partnership AI for All Summit. The programme will address a range of global challenges through technology and innovation. The joint programme is co-funded by Indian Department of Science & Technology (DST) and Sweden’s Innovation Agency – Vinnova. The new programme brings together the world class excellence of Sweden and India to address challenges in the area of Smart Cities and Clean Technologies and Digitalisation/Internet of Things (IoT).

Full-Scale R&D projects, focused on co-development of new products, processes or technologies; product adaptation projects will be funded under this new programme. Vinnova will provide funding to Swedish side participants upto 2,500,000 Swedish Krona as grant. On the Indian side, conditional grant of upto 50 percent with a limit of Rs 1.5 crore per project to Indian project partners will be provided.

Speaking on the occasion, Joakim Appelquist, deputy director general, Vinnova said, “India is the fastest rising research and innovation power in the world and a valued partner to Sweden. The India-Sweden Collaborative Industrial Research & Development Programme can play an effective role in taking the best out of Swedish and Indian innovators, making them work together and develop a solution that would fit and benefit both sides. I am delighted to be back here and very pleased with Vinnova’s enhanced collaboration with India.”

The Sweden-India science and innovation partnership has gone from strength to strength in last couple of years and high-level diplomatic visits have boosted interest in bilateral collaboration between the two countries. Last year, in April 2018, during prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sweden, India agreed to deepen the collaboration through the Joint Declaration on Innovation Partnership for a Sustainable Future. The partnership aims to increase impact of bilateral cooperation in innovation, science and technology. The Swedish government has earmarked an additional 50 million SEK to its innovation agency Vinnova to commence and inaugurate the innovation partnership with India.

Klas Molin, ambassador of Sweden to India, said, “Moving from idea to innovation requires learning and collaboration. India and Sweden share values – responsibility, sustainability, doing more with less. Our countries can unleash co-innovation and co-creation to find solutions to global challenges. A year ago, we signed the Sweden India Innovation Partnership. Today we are announcing jointly funded programmes. We are looking at deepening cooperation in the areas of smart cities, energy, digitalisation, life sciences as well as developing our startup communities and allowing startups to grow and prosper.”