Filling out online applications for sustainable 4.0 investments

From 10 a.m. on 20 September 2023, it is possible to fill in the online application for the Sustainable Investments 4.0 incentive, managed by Invitalia on behalf of MIMIT, and subsequently, from 18 October 2023, also at 10 a.m., it will be possible to send the completed applications. The incentive, in continuity with the previous call of 2022, supports new innovative and sustainable business investments that make extensive use of digital technologies, in the direction indicated by the Transition 4.0 Plan. The beneficiaries are micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the Regions of Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Apulia, Sicily and Sardinia, in implementation of the development objectives set out in the 2021-2027 ERDF National Programme “Research, Innovation and Competitiveness for the Green and Digital Transition”. The overall financial endowment of the instrument is 400 million euro (under the specific objective 1.3, action 1.3.2, of the NRP RIC 2021 – 2027).Investment programmes must be aimed at carrying out business services and manufacturing activities (excluding investment programmes that do not guarantee compliance with the DNSH Do No Significant Harm principle) while harming the environmental objectives defined at European level.

Priority is given to measures that are able to make a particular contribution to sustainability objectives, for which specific evaluation criteria are envisaged, enabling the proposing enterprise to score additional points in the access procedure. To this end, programmes that aim to support environmentally friendly production processes (climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives) and the efficient use of resources (promoting the company’s transition to a circular economy) are enhanced on the basis of dedicated sustainability indicators.Similar bonuses are awarded to SMEs that have adhered to an environmental management or energy efficiency system or that hold an environmental product certification. The subsidies cover up to 75 per cent of the eligible expenses and are granted in the form of a grant for equipment and subsidised financing, with the percentage varying according to company size.