MoUs signed with Tamil Nadu’s Centres of Excellence in advanced manufacturing

Besides attracting investments at the upcoming Global Investors Meet (GIM), scheduled to be held in Chennai in January 2024, Tamil Nadu will focus on creating jobs and ensuring that it grows as a knowledge hub.

After a tour to three Centres of Excellence set up by Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (TIDCO), in collaboration with global OEMs such as Dassault Systemes, Siemens and GE Aerospace, Minister for Industries, Investment Promotion and Commerce T.R.B. Rajaa said the GIM would celebrate knowledge and bring together the best minds from across the globe.

The Minister said the focus was more on creating high-paying jobs and patents, and developing human capital.

The three Centres of Excellence housed innovative firms catering to requirements of industries, MSMEs and start-ups in product design, simulation, rapid prototyping, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and additive manufacturing, among others.

Started in June 2022, the Tamil Nadu Centre of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing (TANCAM) was set up by TIDCO in collaboration with Dassault Systèmes at a cost of ₹212 crore with a contribution of ₹182 crore from the latter. This centre has been actively providing design solutions to 54 companies.

The Tamil Nadu Smart and Advance Manufacturing (TANSAM) was established in November 2022 by TIDCO in collaboration with Siemens at a cost of ₹251.54 crore, with a contribution of ₹211.54 crore from the latter. Discussions are under way with Flextronics Bangalore to initiate a Debugging and Service Engineer placement program at TANSAM under CSR, and for Flex to set up a lab in TANSAM for hands-on experience.

Adroitts, a US-based IT company, has engaged TANSAM for a cybersecurity placement program to meet their resource requirements. Besides, the Highways Department has engaged TANSAM to develop and deploy an AI-based PCU calculation model at multiple sites.

Inaugurated in November 2022, the Tamil Nadu Advanced Manufacturing Centre of Excellence (TAMCOE) was set up by TIDCO in collaboration with GE Aerospace at a cost of ₹141.26 crore, with a contribution of ₹57.8 crore from the latter.

MoUs Signed

During the event, three start-ups signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with TANCAM.

The first MoU was signed by Trichy Aerospace Pvt Ltd., which is engaged in design and development of electric boats for fishing, tourism and water sports. TANCAM is provide design and simulation support for product development for this venture.

The second MoU was signed by KHAY-ZEN India Pvt Ltd. to develop an advanced bio-digester (Solid Waste management) — conversion of organic carbon composites from organic waste. TANCAM has dedicated a team for research and development, and to work on the project to make it ready for the market.

The third MoU was signed by Kalam Technology Center, for which TANCAM will innovate unmanned ground vehicles for defense and enterprises, pioneering localised autonomous navigation mapping capabilities.

TANSAM signed an MoU with Velammal Institution and KSRIET Institute today. These are primarily to provide support on skill training, research and development.