Eligibility Requirements

• Project Funding: Grant requests between £100,000 and £300,000 (excluding Indian partners' funding).
• Project Duration: Start by 1 September 2025, complete by 31 March 2027 (6 to 18 months duration).
• Collaboration: Must include at least one UK and one Indian business (separate legal entities).
• Project Location: The majority of the work must occur in the UK and India, with results exploited in or from the UK.
• Balanced Contribution: No single country or partner should contribute more than 70% of the total project work.
• Subcontractors: Allowed up to 20% of the UK total project cost; subcontractors must be justified and selected through a competitive process.

Roles and Requirements

• Lead Applicant: Must be a UK-registered business, responsible for starting the application.
• Consortium: Should include UK SMEs, businesses of any size, academic institutions, or RTOs.
• Indian Partner: Must apply separately through the TDB programme and should not be invited to the UK application platform.
• Non-Funded Partners: Can participate and contribute to project costs without receiving funding.

Application Limits

• UK businesses can lead only one application but can collaborate on up to two additional projects.
• Academic institutions or RTOs can collaborate in multiple applications.

Funding Rates
For UK partners engaged in economic activities:

• Micro or small organisations: Up to 70% of eligible costs.
• Medium-sized organisations: Up to 60%.
• Large organisations: Up to 50%.

Research organisations can cover up to 30% of total project costs, with funding levels of:

• 80% of full economic costs for Je-S registered institutions.
• 100% for RTOs.

Exclusions
Projects will not be funded if they:

• Focus on military applications.
• Lack a net-zero focus or eligible Indian partners.
• Are non-compliant with eligibility criteria.
• Rely on export performance or domestic input conditions.

Important Dates

• Competition Closes: 29th January 2025, 11:00 am.
• Applicant Notification: 2nd April 2025.
• Project Start Date: By 1st July 2025.
• Project Completion: By 31st March 2026.

This collaborative initiative presents a significant opportunity for UK and Indian businesses to innovate and drive forward net-zero technologies, enhancing both economies while addressing global sustainability challenges.

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