Kolkata: Union Minister Babul Supriyo on Wednesday pitched for making quality products by small and medium enterprises as part of 'Make In India' campaign.
Supriyo, the junior minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, was present at the signing of a MoU by Department of Heavy Industries (DHI) with IIT Kharagpur for a Centre of Excellence on Advanced Manufacturing Technologies at a city hotel in Kolkata.
"When we talk about Make in India why not do it beautifully in India. When you have one of the best educational institutions in the world as IIT Kharagpur," Supriyo told reporters.
He said the Centre of Excellence, the first one in West Bengal, was necessary for Research and Development in small and medium enterprises, for introducing new technologies.
He said for such Centre of Excellence, the Union government grants 80 per cent of funding.
"Such centres have been already there in south India, western India and in Delhi. But as someone representing the state, I felt the need to make it happen in this part of the country," Supriyo said.
"Think about LED torches from China sold at throwaway prices at street corners. If we can produce such capital goods with excellent standard only India will benefit. Also such centres will enable entrepreneurs to source raw materials locally and not import from outside," Supriyo said.
IIT Kharagpur Director Prof P P Chakrabarti said "there had been vast changes in the world of engineering design and manufacturing in the past 10-15 years. With this centre, we aim to take a jump to go ahead."
The director said, a consortium has been formed by leading industrial houses for jointly supporting an academic centre on Advanced Manufacturing Technologies at the centre.
"We chose the consortium model for industrial partnership because the need for infusion of next generation technology in the manufacturing sector transcends domestic competition and needs concerted cooperation of all industrial houses in this sector. The consortium will also enable self-sustainability of the centre beyond the period of DHI support,” he Director said.
As part of funding, the DHI allocated Rs 47.62 crore of the total Rs 65.19 crore PPP funding.
The consortium features Tata Sons, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, TCS, Ramkrishna Forgings, Heavy Engineering Corporation, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and Ampere Vehicles, among others.
The Centre is expected to be fully functional by the end of this financial year.
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