Kochi: The city would soon be home to a MSME-Technology Centre, that would provide micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with much needed stimulus by improving the quality of their products through testing and calibration. 

Speaking on the sidelines of Technical Workshop for General Engineering Sector, and an industrial adalat held here on Monday, department of industries and commerce director Biju K said the facility would be coming up at 14 acres owned by the Kerala state industrial development corporation at Kalamassery. “The total investment is around Rs 140 crore. Small and medium enterprises can use the testing facility to improve the quality of their products through testing and calibration,” said Biju. “An amount of Rs 72 crore has already been sanctioned for the project and the construction work has commenced,” he said. The centre would have state-of-the-art labs and equipment to test raw materials, semi-finished and finished products. Currently, industries here have to take their products to either Bengaluru or Coimbatore for testing. 

Earlier, delivering the keynote address, Biju said the MSME sector in the state was poised for growth. “We are aiming to enhance the capacity of MSMEs and make them part of a larger network of industries” he said. The workshop was inaugurated by minister for industries, sports and youth affairs E P Jayarajan. 

Technical sessions were led by P R Venketeswaran, manager, Welding Research Institute, Trichy, and G S Prakash, deputy director, MSME-Development Institute, Thrissur. Scientists of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Mohan S, Sivan Kutty and Jacob Philip enlightened the audience regarding the opportunities for MSMEs in space and allied industries, aerospace and precision engineering. 

Published On : 09-07-2019

Source : Times of India