Call for Proposals: Green Hydrogen Innovations for Sustainable Energy Solutions (India and France)

Deadline: 6-May-25

To catalyze a stronger and rejuvenated Indo-French scientific partnership, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, and French National Research Agency (ANR), France are launching the 1st joint call for submission of the project proposals in “Green Hydrogen Innovations for Sustainable Energy Solutions”.

The aim of this call is to consolidate Indo-French research networks in hydrogen and create new ones. Through bilateral funding, both organizations seek to fund innovative binational projects that demonstrate strong synergy between the teams in each country and real integration of joint work, i.e. effective cooperation between the Indo-French partners. Partners will work together as a joint team with complementary competencies in one common project, creating a joint output.

Prioritised Research and Innovation Areas

• Green Hydrogen Innovations for Sustainable Energy Solutions
  • The target of this Indo-French call is to enhance value creation through research and innovation for the development of new technologies, solutions, services, and business models on the following two topics, along with subtopics that can contribute:
    • Innovations for electrochemical hydrogen production or fuel cells, e.g.
      • Alternatives to rare and costly electro-catalyzers for electrolyzers or fuel cells
      • Bio-inspired catalyst design for green hydrogen production
      • Natural enzyme-based hydrogen production
    • Research on hydrogen carriers and storage, e.g.
      • Chemical hydrogen carriers like ammonia (advances in the chain, such as synthesis/ cracking processes)
      • Liquid hydrogen carriers like Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC)
      • Materials-based hydrogen storage like hydrides

Funding Information

• The successful projects will be jointly funded by India and France. For the French counterpart, funding will be disbursed by ANR, and similarly for the Indian counterpart by DST.
• The French side (French National Research Agency – ANR) will allocate 1 million EUR and the Indian side (DST) will allocate 90 million INR i.e. (Rs. 9 crores) to support at least 2-4 joint research and innovation projects. The duration of the projects is expected to be up to 3 years for both sides.

Eligibility Criteria

• The project leading to the development of a device/prototype/process with Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) having potential for commercialization, must start at least at TRL 3 and will be eligible for financial support. The implementation or commercialization plan should be clearly spelled out with achievable milestones, timelines, justifiable budget requirements, and engagement with prospective technology transfer partners or technology transfer facilitating bodies.
• The participation of companies is strongly encouraged. Companies can participate as co-applicants (eligible for funding) or cooperation partners (non-funded).
• The applications must include a statement on how the proposed collaboration brings added value for both countries.
• To be eligible, detailed proposals and CVs must comply with all the eligibility conditions, whether common to both funding organizations or specific to each.
• No modification of data will be possible, and no document will be accepted after the closing date and time of the call from either of the two organizations. Data entry is the direct responsibility of the applicants (French scientific coordinator for the ANR platform and Indian PI for the DST).

For more information, visit ISTI Portal.