Bhatt hopes Vizag becomes hub of providing steel making solutions
Renowned industries in the automation space including Schneider Electric, ABB, EOS, SMS Group and Siemens will nurture start-ups as a part of the steel sector’s Industry 4.0.
Confederation of Indian Industry and IT Association of Andhra Pradesh will also be supporting the start-up nurturing at the newly announced Centre of Excellence (CoE) at Kalpataru.
It is the need of the hour and it will become an example of industry and academia interface where everyone will come out with a solution which will benefit the country and will usher in a Nationwide movement in digitalisation the steel industry.
The Industry 4.0 CoE Kalpataru is for promotion of innovation and start-up activities for the Government-owned Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and other industries in and around Visakhapatnam, the Steel Ministry said on 18 July 2022.
It is planned to incubate around 50 start-ups in physical mode and 125 start-ups in Virtual mode over a period of 5 years.
An MoU was signed between Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), STPINEXT and RINL-VSP (Visakhapatnam Steel Plant) for setting up the CoE Kalpataru.
“India is now becoming the epicentre of steel making in the World and India stands as the second largest steel producer in the world and I hope that Vizag will become the hub of providing solutions in steel making to the country,” Atul Bhatt, CMD, RINL said at the MoU signing ceremony.
The centre for Excellence will go a long way in incubating start-ups from ideation to product development in Industry 4.0
The 6,000 sq ft CoE, named ‘Kalpataru’, will house an Industrial Robotics lab, an Industrial Drones lab and an Industrial IOT (Internet of Things) lab.
The Centre will also be provided with high-speed internet and server setup using cloud computing to have capabilities for working with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).
This is being established with funding support from Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India (MeitY), RINL and Government of Andhra Pradesh.
The primary objective of the MOU is to forge strong and meaningful alliance between STPI, STPINEXT & RINL to support the Startup-Ecosystem in Visakhapatnam.
The COE on Industry 4.0 will benefit RINL by the way of improvement in production, productivity and safety. The solutions offered by the CoE will also aid in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) of plant and machinery, help in monitoring the health of structures and aid to detect and reduce industrial pollution.
The MoU envisages a strong co-operation in mentoring, access to infrastructure and facilities, networking and funding.
STPI & STPINEXT and RINL will enable budding start-up companies to make world class products in the area of Industry 4.0.
The start-ups will be aptly supported by the premier institutes like IIM Visakhapatnam and Andhra University in the form of research inputs in Management and Technology.
The CoE (Kalpataru) is one of its kind to work in the space of Industry 4.0, with the required ecosystem for promoting start-ups and creating a holistic eco-system for encouraging R&D, Innovation, Product development, Entrepreneurship in the State.
The 3-year MOU is envisaged to provide catalytic improvements in the Digitalization drive and implementation of Industry 4.0 Standards at RINL, said the Ministry. fiinews.com
