It may be recalled that Fraunhofer- Gesellschaft is the leading organization for applied research in Europe. Its research activities are conducted by 66 institutes and research units at locations throughout Germany.

The Fraunhofer- Gesellschaft employs a staff of nearly 24,000, who work with an annual research budget totalling more than EUR 2 billion. Of this sum, around EUR 1.7 billion is generated through contract research. More than 70 percent of the Fraunhofer- Gesellschaft's contract research revenue is derived from contracts with industry and from publicly financed research projects.

The 12th Five Year Plan calls for augmenting Indian Industrial Technologies development at institutes through collaborations with Fraunhofer and like institutions.

The MoU is also a strong indication of German support to Indian economy. This will pay way for induction of latest technologies in capital goods sector. SME in industrial clusters will be the main beneficiaries.

DHI will actively conduct technology need surveys with units and clusters and run a number of awareness, technology development and assimilation programmes with the help of Fraunhofer.
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