India and EU Conclude Talks for India to Join Horizon Europe
Negotiations closed on November 6 and 7 for India to become an associated country in Horizon Europe, the 93.5 billion euro EU research programme. Indian researchers and firms would get direct funding and lead joint projects from January 2027.
Key points
- India and the European Union have finished the negotiations that will let India join Horizon Europe, the EU research and innovation programme with a budget of 93.5 billion euros for 2021 to 2027.
- The European Commission announced the close of talks on November 6, and India Ministry of Science and Technology announced the same outcome on November 7 through the Press Information Bureau.
- Once the association starts, Indian researchers, universities, research organisations and companies will be able to take part in Horizon Europe funding calls through joint projects, receive…
India and the European Union have finished the negotiations that will let India join Horizon Europe, the EU research and innovation programme with a budget of 93.5 billion euros for 2021 to 2027.
The European Commission announced the close of talks on November 6, and India Ministry of Science and Technology announced the same outcome on November 7 through the Press Information Bureau. Association is the closest form of cooperation Horizon Europe offers to a country outside the EU. Both sides expect the association to begin in January 2027, after the agreement is signed and the required procedures are finished on both sides. India will contribute money to the programme, and the amount has not been announced.
What changes for Indian researchers
Once the association starts, Indian researchers, universities, research organisations and companies will be able to take part in Horizon Europe funding calls through joint projects, receive programme funding directly, lead projects, and use European research groups and research infrastructure. The agreement covers Pillar II of the programme, its largest part, called Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness.
Pillar II funds joint research in health, digital technologies, industry and space, climate, energy and mobility, and food and the bioeconomy. India ministry said those fields line up closely with India research priorities and with strengths Indian science already has.
How the deal was built
The two sides first explored association after the India and EU summit on January 27, 2026. Formal negotiations began after the ministerial meeting of the India and EU Trade and Technology Council in Brussels on July 15, 2026. The work builds on the India and EU Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation, first signed in 2001 and extended to 2030.
India would join a group of 23 countries already associated to Horizon Europe, among them the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, New Zealand, Norway and Ukraine. Associated countries take part on equal terms with EU organisations in the parts of the programme their agreements cover.
The timing also sits ahead of trade diplomacy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected in Brussels in mid December for the signing of the India and EU free trade agreement, and the research deal gives both sides a finished file to point to before that visit. The next steps are formal: a signature, the completion of procedures in India and in the EU, and a start to Indian participation in the programme final year, since the current Horizon Europe runs to December 2027.