EU Opens €9.98 Million Funding Call to Strengthen EU–India Civil Society Cooperation
- News Desk
- 15 hours ago
- 9 min read
The European Commission has opened a €9.976 million funding call to strengthen the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in India, including their participation in EU–India policy dialogue, climate action, sustainable development and sustainable value chains.
The call, titled “India – Civil society contribution to policy dialogue, climate action and sustainable value chains”, is being implemented under the EU’s civil society support framework and carries the reference EuropeAid/187022/DD/ACT/IN.
The funding opportunity is particularly relevant to organisations working at the intersection of EU–India relations, climate and environmental action, inclusive development, sustainable economic growth, governance and the EU’s Global Gateway strategy.
The call is currently open for submission, with the deadline for the first stage of applications set for 15 September 2026 at 09:00 Brussels time. This corresponds to 12:30 PM IST on the same day.
What is the EU funding call about?
The overall objective of the call is to strengthen local civil society organisations as actors of good governance and development in India.
The EU has identified three specific objectives:
Specific Objective 1: Strengthen the capacity of CSOs to participate constructively in EU–India sectoral policy dialogue partnerships, within the framework of the EU–India Comprehensive Strategic Agenda.
The sectors covered include:
Clean energy
Climate action
Resource efficiency and the circular economy
Water
Sustainable urbanisation
Digital
Inclusive policies supporting vulnerable groups, including women, youth, persons with disabilities, elderly people, children and other minorities.
Specific Objective 2: Promote the contribution of CSOs to sustainable economic growth, job creation, social inclusion and welfare, climate action and sustainable value chains in India.
Specific Objective 3: Promote similar CSO contributions specifically in India’s North Eastern Region (NER), with a focus on sustainable economic growth, job creation, social inclusion and welfare, climate action and sustainable value chains.
Objectives 1 and 2 fall under Lot 1, while Objective 3 constitutes Lot 2. Applicants must choose one lot only and address at least one of the priorities under that lot. Addressing multiple priorities is encouraged where they are coherently integrated.
What areas will the funding support?
For Lot 1, covering Specific Objectives 1 and 2, the priorities include:
Networking, stakeholder engagement and public outreach, including civil-society participation in multi-stakeholder dialogue with the private sector, academia, think tanks, trade unions, cooperatives, research institutions and community organisations.
Inclusive policies for women, youth and other vulnerable groups, including greater participation in policy dialogue and decision-making.
Participatory governance, evidence-based advocacy and community empowerment, including the use of credible data and evidence in policymaking and work related to climate change, the environment and biodiversity.
Global Gateway, including civil-society participation in the implementation, monitoring and accountability of EU Global Gateway investments in India, with attention to environmental, social and climate-justice standards.
For Lot 2, focused on the North Eastern Region, priorities include:
CSO-led inclusive green economic development and sustainable value chains
Climate resilience, environmental governance and ecological sustainability
Participatory governance, evidence-based advocacy and community empowerment
Engagement with EU private-sector investment in high-potential sustainable value chains, industries and services, including Global Gateway initiatives.
The guidelines also encourage results-based design, multi-stakeholder partnerships, innovation, replication, scalability and efficient and sustainable use of resources.
How much funding is available?
The overall indicative budget is €9.976 million.
The indicative allocation is:
Lot 1: €5.976 million
Lot 2: €4 million
Individual grants must be between €1.5 million and €2 million.
The EU contribution must normally cover between 75% and 80% of eligible project costs. The maximum EU contribution can rise to 90% where the applicant or partnership meets the conditions for local organisations established in India specified in the guidelines. The remaining costs must come from sources other than the EU general budget or European Development Fund.
The European Commission notes that only €4.988 million of the total €9.976 million allocation is currently certain under the 2026 appropriations. The remaining €4.988 million is subject to confirmation from 2027 appropriations and therefore carries a suspensive clause. The Commission also reserves the right not to award all available funds.
Who can apply?
The call is open to eligible non-profit civil society organisations, including NGOs and other organisations falling within the EU's definition of CSOs.
A lead applicant must:
Be a legal person
Be non-profit-making
Be an eligible type of organisation, such as an NGO or civil society organisation/association
Be effectively established in an EU Member State, an EEA Member State or India
Be directly responsible for preparing and managing the action rather than acting as an intermediary.
The EU's definition of eligible CSOs is broad and can include, among others, organisations representing women, youth, indigenous peoples and diaspora communities; environmental, research, teaching and scientific organisations; organisations promoting good governance and combating corruption; consumer organisations; cultural organisations; not-for-profit media; independent foundations and other non-governmental associations.
International organisations are not eligible to apply as lead applicants or co-applicants under this call.
Special requirements for EU/EEA applicants
An organisation established in an EU Member State or EEA country must apply with at least two Indian co-applicants.
The Indian co-applicants must have valid Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration at the time of the full application and when the grant contract is signed.
EU/EEA-based lead applicants must also demonstrate prior experience or established partnerships in India. The quality of the partnership and local anchoring will be considered in the evaluation.
Requirements for Indian lead applicants
An Indian organisation applying as the lead applicant must have valid FCRA registration at the time of the full application and at the time of signing the grant contract.
Indian co-applicants or affiliated entities do not necessarily need FCRA registration in this situation because the guidelines specify that EU funds should not be transferred to them, in accordance with FCRA requirements. All applicants must nevertheless comply with applicable Indian legislation, including relevant FCRA, tax, social-security and FEMA/RBI requirements.
Where can projects take place?
Projects under Lot 1 can be implemented anywhere in India.
Projects under Lot 2 must take place in India's North Eastern Region, covering:
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
The planned duration of an action must be at least 36 months and no more than 48 months.
Some activities may exceptionally take place outside India where they directly benefit India and the relevant target groups—for example, capacity-building activities, exhibitions, trade fairs, exposure visits, peer learning or other market-entry activities.
What types of projects are eligible?
The EU expects proposals to take the form of a coherent project with measurable objectives and results, rather than a collection of unrelated activities.
Projects should be based on reliable and recent information, consultation with target groups and stakeholders, and clearly defined and verifiable indicators.
Certain activities are specifically excluded. These include projects focused mainly on:
Individual sponsorships to attend workshops, seminars or conferences
Individual scholarships for studies or training
One-off conferences
Activities that violate human rights or EU values
Projects supporting political parties or political personalities
Activities that discriminate against individuals or groups
Proselytising activities
Activities that cause significant adverse environmental or climate effects.
A conference can be funded if it forms part of a broader project with other activities; a standalone conference is not eligible.
The call also allows applicants, under the conditions specified in the guidelines, to provide financial support to third parties. The normal maximum amount of such support is €60,000 per third party, unless the guidelines' exceptional conditions for exceeding that threshold apply.
How to Apply
The application process is a two-stage restricted call for proposals.
Applicants should not submit a full project proposal immediately. The first stage requires a Concept Note. Only applicants whose Concept Notes are pre-selected will be invited to submit a full application.
Stage 1: Submit a Concept Note
Applicants must complete Annex A.1 – Grant Application Form: Concept Note.
The Concept Note must be prepared in English and must follow the prescribed format.
The substantive Concept Note is limited to five pages:
Description of the Action – maximum 2 pages
Relevance of the Action – maximum 3 pages
The required format is A4, 2 cm margins, Arial 10-point font and single-line spacing. The application form also contains a cover page and a summary table; the summary table has no size limitation.
The summary table asks applicants to set out:
Overall and specific objectives
Final beneficiaries
Expected outputs
Main activities
Target groups.
What must the two-page action description cover?
The Description of the Action should explain:
The background and context of the project
Key challenges and any analysis or studies informing the project
The project's objectives
Key stakeholder groups and consultations
The intervention logic
Expected outputs, outcomes and impact
Main risks and assumptions
Proposed activities and their links
Cross-cutting issues such as human rights, gender equality, democracy, good governance, youth, children's rights, indigenous peoples and environmental sustainability
The broad timeframe of the action.
What must the three-page relevance section cover?
Applicants must demonstrate:
How the project relates to the call's objectives and priorities
Its relevance to specific sectors or themes
Which expected results from the call it will address
The needs and constraints in the target country, region or sector
Relevant national, regional or local plans
Synergies with other EU or donor initiatives
The target groups and final beneficiaries and their needs
How those needs will be addressed
Any added value, including innovation, best practices or public-private partnerships.
Applicants should not submit a detailed budget at the Concept Note stage. Only an estimate of the requested EU contribution and indicative percentage are required. A detailed budget is submitted at the second stage if the applicant is invited to submit a full application.
The EU will evaluate only the information contained in the Concept Note at this stage, and no additional annexes should be sent with it. Incomplete Concept Notes or major errors against the instructions may lead to rejection.
Where should the Concept Note be submitted?
Applications must be submitted online through PROSPECT.
Organisations applying under the call must also complete the required registration in PADOR/Participant Register, as specified in the guidelines. Online submission through PROSPECT is mandatory.
Concept Notes sent by email, fax, post or any other method will be rejected. Applicants receive an automatic confirmation of receipt in their PROSPECT profile after submission.
Concept Note deadline
The deadline is:
15 September 2026 at 09:00 Brussels time
For applicants in India, this is 12:30 PM IST on 15 September 2026.
Applications submitted after the deadline will be rejected. Applicants are strongly advised not to wait until the final day because technical or connectivity problems cannot be used as grounds for accepting a late submission.
What happens after submission?
The Concept Notes first undergo an administrative check. The deadline, completeness and compliance with the Concept Note checklist are examined. A missing or incorrect piece of required information can result in rejection before substantive evaluation.
The Concept Note is then scored out of 50 points:
Relevance of the action — 20 points
This considers:
Consistency with the call's objectives and priorities
Relevance to country, regional and sector needs
Clarity and strategic selection of target groups and beneficiaries
Added value, including innovation and best practices.
Design of the action — 30 points
This considers:
Intervention logic
Context analysis
Risks and assumptions
Links between activities and expected outputs
Cross-cutting issues such as climate, gender equality, equal opportunities and the rights of vulnerable groups.
Only Concept Notes scoring at least 30 points will be considered for pre-selection. The highest-scoring proposals will then be ranked, with the number of pre-selected applications determined in relation to the available budget.
Stage 2: Full Application
Applicants whose Concept Notes are pre-selected will be invited to submit Annex A.2 – Grant Application Form: Full Application.
The second-stage application is substantially more detailed and includes:
Description of the Action — maximum 18 pages
Methodology — maximum 5 pages
Indicative Action Plan — maximum 4 pages
Sustainability of the Action — maximum 3 pages
Logical Framework
Detailed budget
Applicant and partnership information
Organisational and financial information
Relevant project experience
Required declarations and supporting documents.
The full application must remain consistent with the Concept Note. In particular, the requested EU contribution generally cannot vary by more than 20% from the initial estimate provided at the Concept Note stage, except within the conditions set out in the guidelines. Changes to co-applicants or the duration of the action are also subject to specific rules.
Indicative timeline
According to the call documents, the process is expected to follow this timetable:
Stage | Indicative date |
Concept Note deadline | 15 September 2026, 09:00 Brussels time |
Notification of Concept Note evaluation results | 30 October 2026 |
Full application deadline for pre-selected applicants | 5 January 2027, 09:00 Brussels time |
Indicative final decision | 15 February 2027 |
The full application deadline applies only to organisations that are invited to the second stage.
What applicants should keep in mind
The EU's assessment is not based simply on whether a project fits one of the listed themes. Applicants will need to demonstrate a clear connection between the identified problem, target groups, activities, outputs, outcomes and longer-term impact.
The guidelines particularly encourage:
Evidence-based project design
Meaningful participation of stakeholders
Strong local partnerships and ownership
Innovation and potential for replication or scaling
Gender-sensitive approaches
Human-rights-based approaches
Environmental and climate considerations
Clear and measurable indicators
Efficient and sustainable use of resources.
For EU/EEA-based organisations, demonstrating credible local anchoring and established partnerships in India is particularly important, while Indian applicants need to ensure that their proposed activities and organisational arrangements comply with applicable FCRA and Indian legal requirements.
With a funding envelope of almost €10 million, a strong EU–India policy-dialogue component and dedicated support for sustainable development and civil-society engagement in India's North Eastern Region, the call provides a significant funding opportunity for eligible organisations working across the EU–India partnership.
Official call reference: EuropeAid/187022/DD/ACT/IN
Application platform: EU Funding & Tenders Portal / PROSPECT
First-stage deadline: 15 September 2026, 09:00 Brussels time (12:30 PM IST)
Grant size: €1.5 million–€2 million per project
Project duration: 36–48 months
Overall indicative budget: €9.976 million.
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