Indian government Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises announced the launch of six Technology Innovation Platforms on Friday that will focus on developing technologies that will make Indian manufacturing competitive in the global economy.
IIT-Madras, Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI), International Centre for Automotive Technology (iCAT), Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), BHEL and HMT in collaboration with IISc, Bangalore have developed these platforms.
The platforms will facilitate industry (including original equipment manufacturers, Tier-1 Tier-2 and Tier-3 companies and raw material manufacturers), start-ups, domain experts/ professionals, R&D institutions and academia (colleges & universities), to provide technology solutions, suggestions and expert opinions, on issues involving manufacturing technologies, the Ministry said in a statement.
Additionally, it will facilitate knowledge exchange regarding research and development as well as other technological aspects. On these platforms, over 39,000 students, experts, institutes, industries and labs have already registered.
Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Heavy Industries and Enterprises, said these platforms are the gift to the nation during the celebration of ‘AzadikaAmrutMahotsav-Celebration of 75 Years of Independence’ and facilitate identification of technology problems faced by Indian industry and crowdsourcing solutions to them.
ASPIRE – ICAT (Automotive Solutions Portal for Industry Research & Education)
The programme is for enhancing technological capabilities of the Indian automotive sector by sharing knowledge and experience and making the industry self-reliant. The sector’s growth will further boost India’s overall socio-economic progress by bringing the experts to exchange knowledge on a single platform. The platform has been developed by the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), a quality certification and R&D services provider for the automotive sector set under NATRIP.
ASPIRE will facilitate the Indian auto industry (including OEMs and Tier 1-3 companies), R&D institutions and academia (colleges & universities) to collaborate on R&D and technology development, and get expert comments on resolving tech issues and gauging progress.
SanRachna – BHEL
BHEL, a Government of India undertaking and an engineering & manufacturing company, has rolled out a technology innovation platform—SanRachna. It is an open technology platform developed to identify inadequacies in the current technologies used in India. The programme will achieve this goal by organising ‘challenges or contests’ for industry experts on the platform.
The objectives of this platform are as follows:
- Boost creation of innovative networks for generation of indigenous technologies or solutions to help the industry overcome challenges and increase efficiency & production.
- Bring together young people, manufacturing specialists, academic experts, industries and MSME manufacturers on a single platform to brainstorm about current technological difficulties encountered by local producers or anybody seeking a tech solution.
- Collate challenges to be solved and invite thinking minds to contribute to solutioning.
TechNovuus – ARAI
ARAI, a renowned automotive R&D organisation under the Government of India, built a platform—TechNovuus—for cross-domain collaboration. The platform will provide a medium to intellectuals to contribute their knowledge on development of new technologies and innovations and shape the future of mobility.
The objectives of this platform are as follows:
- Promote a collaborative approach to R&D and technological development.
- Create a culture of open inventions to help bridge the gaps between the industry and academia.
- Provide a single platform for posting all challenges and solutions.
- Establish a platform for better expert-to-expert communication and technology transfer.
- Foster an entrepreneurial mindset through open innovation
HMT TechPort
HMT, a Government of India undertaking and a machine tools manufacturing company, introduced a technology innovation platform—HMT TechPort. The platform has been created to boost the machine tools industry by aggregating technology and innovation ideas through collaborative approaches. It will assist users in accomplishing new initiatives, resolving various manufacturing challenges faced by the industry and delivering business results more quickly.
Boosting the machine tools sector’s competitiveness and empowering the manufacturing sector are key goals of this project. Consequently, the platform will assist the government in achieving its goal of generating 25% of the GDP from manufacturing in the near future.
KITE – IIT-Madras (Knowledge Integration for Technology Enrichment)
The Advanced Manufacturing Technology Development Centre (AMTDC) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, launched a manufacturing technology eco-platform—KITE. The platform will focus on enhancement and implementation of smart manufacturing, digital manufacturing, Indigenous manufacturing and process and discrete manufacturing in the manufacturing sector. The platform has developed features to cater to these focus areas:
- KITE Knowledge Exchange Forum – A connectivity platform for all stakeholders to discuss, integrate, develop, and deploy technology
- KITE Skill Development Forum – A group for enabling enthusiastic learners (across all domains) to develop and hone skills and continue gaining knowledge
- KITE Collaborative R&D Forum – A challenge forum for solution seekers and problem solvers to stay connected and address challenges and discuss indigenous technology development
- KITE Knowledge Repository – A knowledge base that expands and advances with continued input and curation by knowledge providers
- KITE Intelligent Chatbot – An intelligent route guide bot, which provides users with the necessary guidelines for navigating the platform and offers easy access and a user-friendly experience
- KITE Knowledge Integration – A virtual assistant that provides instant information on user queries
DRISHTI – CMTI (Design, Research and Innovation by Harvesting Science and Technology for Industries)
The Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI), Bengaluru, developed an online platform—DRISHTI, which brings together innovators and manufacturing companies to address complicated problems.
Currently, the platform has listed the following topics as challenges:
- Mechanical, Civil and Allied Engineering
- Manufacturing and Allied Engineering
- Smart/IOT, Robotics, Vision and Allied Engineering
- Nano Technology, Nano Materials and Allied Materials Science Topics
Conclusion
The six technology innovation platforms were introduced at the backdrop of the Production-linked Incentive (PLI) schemes (announced in 2020) to help India become a global manufacturing powerhouse. These platforms have been expertly designed to eliminate sectoral barriers and provide economies of scale to help India develop healthy manufacturing eco-systems and become self-reliant.
