IIT Kharagpur Gets Center of Excellence In Advanced Technologies
The Department of Heavy Industries under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India, launched the Center of Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies at IIT Kharagpur. The department signed an MoU with IIT Kharagpur in the presence of the Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Babul Supriyo on Wednesday, November 8, 2017, at Kolkata in this regard. In addition to the Union Minister, Joint Secretary and officials from the Dept. of Heavy Industries, senior administrators from IIT Kharagpur and delegates of partnering industries were also present on the occasion.
The blueprint of the Center was prepared following an initial meeting at IIT Kharagpur last year.
A statement from the Institute said, the necessity for the Center has been felt for decades with foreign manufacturers of capital goods exporting to India for higher profitability rather than setting up manufacturing centers in India.
This has led to lower levels of technology transfer and a much higher import bill in the capital goods sector, it added.
"A state-of-the-art center on advanced manufacturing technologies in Eastern India has been long overdue. I have intensely felt the need for the resurgence of small and medium scale enterprises in the region, which needs to get more competitive with the rest of the country. My vision is to achieve this through a common platform of academia, corporate houses, and enterprises which must come together in a synergistic way. It is my firm belief that IIT Kharagpur, with its extensive experience in industrial research and incubation, is the best choice to lead this initiative," said Babul Supriyo during the event.
A key focus of the Center will be to make the Indian Capital Goods Sector globally competitive and support the imminent need to increase the depth in manufacturing through innovation and technology up-gradation in four important areas, namely Speciality materials, Process Automation, Additive manufacturing, and Digital interventions as envisaged in Industry 4.0.
"It was exactly a year back when Shri Babul Supriyo shared his vision with us and visited us at IIT Kharagpur. At the Institute we unanimously agreed that such a Center is the need of the hour. Consequently, we came up with the proposal of the Centre of Excellence on Advanced Manufacturing Technologies for Heavy Industries with a strong focus on the technologies which will usher India into the emerging era of Industry 4.0. The Centre will aim to bridge the divide between the requirements of the leading manufacturing firms of India and the ability of SMEs to meet those requirements in globally competitive terms" said Prof. P P Chakrabarti, Director, IIT Kharagpur.
"It is unique for the leading industrial houses in India to come together to form a consortium and jointly support an academic Center on Advanced Manufacturing Technologies. We chose the consortium model for industrial partnership because the need for an infusion of next-gen technology in the manufacturing sector transcends domestic competition and needs the concerted cooperation of all industrial houses in this sector. The consortium will also enable self-sustainability of the Center beyond the period of DHI support" said Prof Pallab Dasgupta, Dean Sponsored Research, IIT Kharagpur.
The consortium features stellar industrial houses, including Tata Sons, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, TCS, Ramkrishna Forgings, Heavy Engineering Corporation, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and Ampere Vehicles.
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