The Joint Secretary of the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Tarun Kapoor, announced the official launch of the initiative “Market Development and Promotion of Solar Concentrator based Process Heat Applications” in mid May 2012. In cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the MNRE will support 30 demonstration projects with a total of 15,000 m² and 60 replication projects with altogether 30,000 m² of process heat applications with concentrating solar thermal collectors across at least five different sectors between 2012 and 2017. The budget with a total of USD 23.75 million will be spent on supporting measures, not on direct investment subsidies. 

Tannery Heshan Bestway Leather, a German joint venture in the People’s Republic of China, inaugurated its new Chinese factory in Heshan on 9th June in the presence of around 300 visitors from all over the world. The factory houses a solar thermal process heat installation with 630 m² of collector area. Heshan Bestway Leather is one of the leading manufacturers in leather products on a highly environmentally friendly basis. The non-pressurised collector field preheats water for the retanning drums and vacuum dryers at 70°C.

The Hungarian Ministry of National Development reported a high interest in one of its recently halted support programmes. According to the ministry’s statement from 17th May, it received 5,686 applications for the "Sub programme to set up solar collector systems that facilitate the use of renewable energies, generate residential hot water and provide space heating". The ministry also stated that 2,300 of these applications have already been approved. The sub programme was launched at the beginning of October 2011 and expired - after several extensions - on 15th May 2012.