Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

05-May-2017 16:23 IST

National Productivity Council had submitted a proposal to Asian Productivity Organization (APO) for establishment of Centre of Excellence on IT for Industry 4.0(CoE: IT for I4.0).

In this context, in the Governing Body Meeting of APO in Tehran on 10th April, 2017, one of the agenda items was to grant approval of the proposal submitted by NPC on “CoE on IT for I4.0”. As a part of recognition of IT capacity of India, NPC proposal has been approved by GB of APO.

In this scenario, the Centre of Excellence (CoE) can be very effective in coordination with various stakeholders, collection of information, development of knowledge & dissemination of knowledge/information, facilitation in capacity building of industries, support start-ups etc. linking design to customer. The result is the “smart factory”, which is characterized by versatility, resource efficiency and ergonomic design as well as its direct integration with business partners.

This will ensure a number of benefits such as; Creation of roadmap for implementation of Industry 4.0 especially for MSMEs, transfer of knowledge and expertise from other 19 Member countries, one stop destination on IT for Industry 4.0 for Indian industries especially for MSMEs, capacity building, support to start-ups, etc. The total cost component of CoE will be around ₹ 4.15 Crore for a period of five years. NPC’s share in the total cost will be around ₹ 1.05 Crore and that of APO will be ₹ 3.10 Crore.

As part of taking the agenda forward, NPC has signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), under Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), Govt. of India on 20th April 2017, to carry forward the demonstration activities of CoE with various technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, sensors etc.

The approved CoE is proposed to be launched formally in the second week of June 2017. There will be participation from the various Industries, Industry Associations, and Experts. A detailed roadmap will be prepared to take forward the activities of CoE.

****

MJPS

Centre of Excellence for Industry 4.0 approval enables coordinated IT capacity building and technology demonstration for MSMEs. Approval of a Centre of Excellence on IT for Industry 4.0 establishes a coordinating mechanism to collect and disseminate knowledge, facilitate capacity building and technology adoption for industries-with emphasis on MSMEs-and to demonstrate technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing and sensors. The project envisages shared funding over five years, a Memorandum of Understanding to run demonstration activities with an MSME support agency, and a formal launch and roadmap preparation to operationalize the CoE as a one stop destination for Industry 4.0 expertise and support.