New Delhi: The Australia-India collaboration on the scientific front received a major boost today with the Australian Prime Minister Mr. Kevin Rudd announcing an additional $50 million investment by the Australian Government in the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund.

The announcement was made by Rudd during his visit to The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi today morning.

"The Australian Government will make a major new investment in building scientific links with India, with support for research efforts targeted at the challenges both countries face in energy, food and water, health and the environment", Rudd said in a press statement.

The $50 million investment, over five years for the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund, will commence in the financial year 2009-10.

The Indian Government has also agreed to match Australia's increased investment.

The fund will be utilized to continue the successful competitive grants program which supports 'bottom-up' investigator-initiated research; introduce new projects demonstrating both excellence in science and a clear path to end use for either commercial or public good and introduce a fellowship program to support exchanges for Australian and Indian researchers.

Through the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund, Australia's largest bilateral research fund, the Australian Government has already invested $20 million since 2006 to enable Australian scientists to engage in leading edge collaborative research with Indian scientists.

The Fund, a joint initiative of the Australian and Indian governments, is already supporting fifty projects across the spectrum of scientific disciplines including astronomy, climate change and evolution, malaria vaccines, the impact of global warming on agriculture, water management, computing and biotechnology.

In addition, the Prime Minister announced a further $1 million for an innovative Australia-India solar cooling research project.

The project between CSIRO and TERI aims to develop a zero emissions solar cooling system for use in remote rural communities in un-electrified areas.

"An estimated 400 million Indians do not have access to electricity, in many cases because they live too far from the main grid infrastructure, while the lack of cold storage leads to the spoilage of an estimated 20 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables annually", Rudd added.

Research into dryland farming in India is also being supported with $20 million over 5 years through the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

The increased investment in the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund will, in particular, seek to support more applied research and engagement of industry partners in order to produce outcomes that help address some of the pressing challenges that both countries face.