India Commits Over €7 Million to Italy’s Elettra 2.0 Project

India has committed more than €7 million to Italy’s Elettra 2.0 scientific upgrade programme. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Jitendra Singh announced the investment during his official visit to Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste on November 13, 2026.

India will join the programme as a co-partner over a five-year period starting in 2026–27. The funding supports next-generation synchrotron beamlines that will accelerate breakthroughs in chemistry, physics, advanced materials, and structural biology for researchers in India and worldwide.

What Is Elettra 2.0?

Synchrotron facilities generate intense beams of light that allow scientists to examine the atomic structure and behavior of materials. Elettra 2.0 is a major infrastructure upgrade at the Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste research center in Italy.

Under this programme, engineers will decommission two existing India-centric beamlines—XRD2 and Xpress—and replace them with two cutting-edge facilities:

• Micro-XRD (μXRD): A specialized microfocus beamline built for macromolecular crystallography, helping scientists map the structures of complex biological molecules.
• Xpress Superbend (Xpress-SB): A high-pressure diffraction beamline that lets researchers test how materials behave under extreme pressure.

Over 25 Years of India–Italy Scientific Cooperation

India’s investment builds on more than a quarter-century of active collaboration at Trieste. Indian scientists have conducted experiments at Elettra since 1998, making India the facility's second-largest international user after host nation Italy.

To date, Elettra has received over 1,100 experimental proposals from Indian research groups—placing India ahead of France (1,098 proposals) and second only to Italy (54,140 proposals). Every year, roughly 50 to 60 Indian scientists travel to Trieste to run experiments at these beamlines.

Sustained DST Funding and EPOC Researcher Support

India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) has consistently backed this partnership:

1. 2016 Beamline Construction: DST previously contributed roughly ₹22 crore alongside Italian partners to build the original XRD2 and XPRESS diffraction beamlines, which both nations inaugurated on October 20, 2016.
2. EPOC 2022–2024: Under the Indo-Italian Executive Programme of Cooperation (EPOC), DST sanctioned ₹2 crore over three years to fund annual research visits for 50 Indian scientists (25 per semester).
3. EPOC 2025–2027: The current cycle proposes an additional ₹1.5 crore over three years to sponsor Indian scholars conducting experiments at Trieste.

Following an earlier Letter of Intent (LoI), Dr. Jitendra Singh’s November 2026 announcement locks in India’s long-term access to world-class synchrotron infrastructure.

Partnership Snapshot: India and Elettra 2.0