Coimbatore: Forge, Innovation and Incubation Centre , Coimbatore has been selected as the Technology partner by State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (SIPCOT) to establish SIPCOT Industrial Innovation Centres (SIIC) in each of the SIPCOT Industrial Parks established in different parts of the State. And, Coimbatore has been nominated by SIPCOT as the Technological Partner (Partner Incubator).
Coimbatore: Forge, Innovation and Incubation Centre , Coimbatore has been selected as the Technology partner by State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (SIPCOT) to establish SIPCOT Industrial Innovation Centres (SIIC) in each of the SIPCOT Industrial Parks established in different parts of the State. And, Coimbatore has been nominated by SIPCOT as the Technological Partner (Partner Incubator).
In the first phase, two such SIICs shall be set up, one each at Sriperumbudur (focused on Future Mobility and Defence & Aerospace) and Hosur (focused on Industry 4.0, Industrial AIoT, and Advanced Manufacturing). Each SIIC shall be setup in a minimum 10,000 sq.ft area, with financial support for capital assets and operating expenditures offered by SIPCOT.
The overall responsibility of the establishment, management and operations of the centre will rest with Forge.
Explaining on the initiative, Viswanathan Sahaskaranam, CEO, Forge stated that the innovation centres is a great initiative, especially for the manufacturing sector. "Forge will work towards an opportunity to promote innovation at the grassroots level catering to the needs of the local industrial clusters, by developing and harnessing the skills of the young minds to develop technologically advanced solutions. This would help the manufacturing industry to come up with technologically advanced solutions and products", he said.
Viswanathan opined that the industry and the academicia would be benefitted out of these centres which would be set up at a cost of Rs.10 crores funded by SIPCOT. "To get industry directly involved CSR funds of corporates have also been sought and there is a positive response from the industry so far," he added.
According to the MoU, Forge will be responsible of overall planning, management and execution of different aspects of the SIIC, including the design and setting up of the physical (Centre) and technical (Lab) infrastructure, offering skills & competencies development in technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship, and executing open innovation programs in partnership with the Industry and Government.
In a span of 5 years, the SIICs are expected to evolve into worldclass incubation centres capable of catalysing industrial innovations and nurturing several technology powered and innovation led manufacturing enterprises, thereby boosting the growth of the high-technology sector in TN and enhancing the manufacturing capabilities of these SIPCOT Industrial Parks.