London, Aug. 5 : The two regional development agencies of the British Midlands – East Midlands Development Agency and Advantage West Midlands are becoming increasingly focused on Indian companies who are looking to expand into the research and development space. 

With world-class universities and institutes who are offering ground breaking research in the field of alternative energy sources, the British Midlands region is poised to become one of the most preferred destinations in the world for undertaking research and development.

Indian companies will now be able to battle problems of greenhouse gases and help make India a better place for the future generations with expert guidance for the region.

The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) based in the British Midlands region is a partnership. It formally commenced operations in December with its first Invitation for Expressions of Interest (EoI) to participate in programmes to develop new technologies for Offshore Wind and for Marine, Tidal and Wave energy.

The Energy Research Partnership, under the joint chairmanship of Paul Golby, Chief Executive of E. ON UK, and Sir David King, Government Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Office for Science, committed itself to raising substantial sums of private investment to meet the matching funding available from private players.

Jointly funded by the British Government and private industry players, the ETI brings together some of the world’s biggest companies – BP, Caterpillar, EDF Energy, E. ON UK, Rolls-Royce and Shell. Their funding contribution, along with that of the UK Government, will provide the Institute with a potential budget of more than 1.2 billion dollars over 10 years. The involvement of other private companies could boost funding up to two billion dollars.

The ETI will afford Indian companies with a firm foundation in the area, as anyone looking to undertake reseach and development in alternative energies will find state of the art machinery as well as world-class experts in the field of research and development at their disposal. The ETI will provide Indian Companies with three major Universities dedicated to providing top- class services.

The University of Nottingham, Birmingham and Loughborough together make up the ETI. It also recognises many successful collaborations as well as close and hugely-valued partnerships with those leading the regional economic development within the British Midlands.

Commenting on this priority for the Indian companies, Mrs Chandrika Shah, Country Representative, British Midlands said, “This is indeed a tremendous opportunity for Indian companies who are looking to not only expand their businesses globally but to also have experts from the region help provide a wealth of knowledge.”

Companies from India who are looking to invest in research and development will allow us to make the most of our shared determination to help secure the well-being of future generations through our science and innovation. The ETI will bring a new level of focus, ambition and industrial collaboration to the field of energy sciences and engineering in both India and the world.”

The ETI was created to accelerate the development and commercial deployment of a focused portfolio of energy technologies which will increase energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help to achieve energy and climate change goals. It has been established to speed up the deployment of new low-carbon energy technologies, including the efficient production. It will also increase funding and provide a national strategic focus for research and development in this area and promote international technology collaboration. (ANI)