India and Finland have worked out a detailed plan to establish Indo-Finnish Virtual Network Centre on
Quantum Computing. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; Minister of State PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said, India has already identified three premier institutes viz IIT Madras, IISER Pune and C-DAC Pune for working with Finnish counterpart institutions for the Virtual Network Centre. The formal announcement for the establishment of the Centre is likely to be made during the visit of Finnish Economic Affairs Minister Mika Lintila to India in April.
A Finnish delegation led by Ambassador Ms Ritva Koukku-Ronde called on the Union minister on Wednesday and reviewed the progress of bilateral cooperation in areas like 5G, artificial intelligence, and sustainability by involving academia, industries and start-ups of the two countries.
The Minister also called for collaboration in the Department of Science & Technology (DST) initiated mission mode programs like Electric Vehicles, Cyber-Physical System, Future Manufacturing, Green Hydrogen Fuel etc to address the societal challenges. To deliver benefits to both nations, the bilateral STI collaboration will stimulate innovative R&D projects to address a specific need or challenge and demonstrate high industrial relevance and commercial potential in India and Finland.
India and Finland have strong bonding in science, technology, and innovation. Within the framework of the S&T agreement, the DST and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, together with Business Finland and the Academy of Finland, have been successfully collaborating for over a decade. Dr Jitendra Singh also recalled Finland’s leading role in clean and green technologies that can help India’s drive towards sustainable development.
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Finland reiterated its commitment to enhanced cooperation in renewable and bioenergy, sustainability, edu-tech, pharma, and digitization. The Finnish Ambassador Koukku-Ronde assured Dr. Singh that Finnish companies would partner with India for carbon-neutral technologies and innovations. She also underlined that both sides should enhance cooperation for sustainability in climate change. The Ambassador invited India to explore the possibility of deeper cooperation in Finland’s Biobank project to mediate high-quality human samples to medical research, development of new products and services that promote public health.
Over 100 Finnish companies are actively operating in India in various sectors such as telecom, elevators, machinery, and energy including, renewable energy. Around 30 Indian companies are also active in Finland in the IT, auto-components, and hospitality sectors.
