India and EU Conclude Horizon Europe Association Talks: €93.5 Billion Research Programme Expected to Open to India in January 2027
India's Ministry of Science and Technology announced through the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on November 7 that India and the European Union have successfully concluded negotiations for India's association with Horizon Europe, the EU's flagship research and innovation programme for 2021-2027, which carries a total budget of €93.5 billion.
The ministry said the association marks a strategic move into a long-term institutional framework of research cooperation between the two sides, building on existing R&D projects and cooperation under the India-EU Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation and the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC). Once in effect, it will let Indian researchers, institutions and industry take part in the programme's funding calls through collaborative research projects, and gain access to European consortia and cutting-edge research infrastructure.
The thematic clusters of Pillar II of Horizon Europe - health, digital technologies, industry and space, climate, energy and mobility, food and the bioeconomy - align closely with India's research priorities and can build on its scientific strengths, the ministry said.
An exploration of the possible association was launched after the India-EU Summit on January 27, 2026, and formal negotiations began after the ministerial meeting of the Trade and Technology Council in Brussels on July 15, 2026. Association is envisaged to begin in January 2027, but the agreement and its formal procedures are still pending, so India is not yet a formal associated member.
More than 20 non-EU countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland, already take part in Horizon Europe as associated countries.
(Source: Press Information Bureau, Government of India)
Source: Press Information Bureau, Government of India
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Brussels 的欧盟委员会总部贝莱蒙大楼与欧盟旗帜。KenSwe72 摄，CC BY 4.0，取自 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Berlaymont building, headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, with EU flags. Photo by KenSwe72, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
