Aiming is to launch ambitious joint venture projects of a high international standard between Indian and Finnish organisations, India and Finland will soon begin collaborative R&D projects in health and well-being. Potential projects will be funded by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in India and by Tekes in Finland.

The collaborative projects will focus on many different aspects of health and well-being, including (but not restricted to) diagnostic solutions for human or animal health, food and water quality control, environmental diagnostics; health technology, monitoring of health and well-being, innovations to support individual health promotion; food/nutrition in relation to health; bio- medical devices, tissue repair; and mobile solutions for health and well-being applications, novel health care concepts.

The projects will aim to develop affordable solutions for low-resource settings, e.g. Indian rural needs, or focus on higher-end products and services. Total solutions that innovatively take into account different challenges related to a problem will be favoured. These may include novel health care concepts, user-oriented design, manufacturing methods, availability of raw materials, need for pure water or energy supply linked to diagnostic solutions, supply chain, i.e. solutions for distribution of the final product or service. Engaging end-users or customers in the projects will be strongly encouraged.

Senior officials said that health promotion and prevention of diseases as well as effective and affordable healthcare is increasingly becoming important globally. Vitality of people is dependent on individual's own behaviour but also on e.g. environmental and nutritional factors. The projects funded under this programme are expected to recognise a real need and aim to solve a relevant problem in India or globally. The projects must be Finnish-Indian joint projects with a common project plan and they need to build up Finnish-Indian partnerships in order to enhance benefits to come for both Indian and Finnish economic life and society.

Under the programme, funding will available for both industrial projects and projects of research organisations. Collaborative projects between industry and academia are also recommended. In case of academic research, projects that engage a technology developer and a technology end-user/first customer are strongly encouraged.