From the Desk of ADC


MSME TECHNOLOGY CENTRES:

(Earlier known as Tool Rooms & Technology Development Centres)


Introduction and background

  • Access to technology is a major challenge faced by the MSMEs in the Country. This is also one of the reasons why majority of MSMEs in India are very slow in adoption of new technological solutions and are unable to support large industries in finding solutions towards cost reduction and sustainability. This in-turn leads to loss of competitiveness of even major industries. Further, with advancement of automation and other technologies like AR, VR, AI, Blockchain etc., manufacturing sector is expected to go through a major shift.
  • Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Office of the Development Commissioner (MSME) in its endeavor to provide the right stimulus for growth of the industry in the country – particularly with the objective of helping the micro, small and medium enterprises, has established Technology Centers across India, many of them through

    bilateral collaboration of the Governments of Germany and Denmark and the United Nations. These were earlier known as Tool Rooms and Technology Development Centers. The list of the existing MSME Technology Centres is as follows:

  • 1. Central Tool Room & Training Centre (CTTC), Kolkata

    2. Central Tool Room (CTR), Ludhiana

    3. Indo German Tool Room (IGTR), Indore

    4. Indo German Tool Room (IGTR), Ahmedabad

    5. Indo German Tool Room (IGTR), Aurangabad

    6. Indo Danish Tool Room (IDTR), Jamshedpur

    7. Central Tool Room & Training Centre (CTTC), Bhubaneswar

    8. Tool Room & Training Centre (TRTC), Guwahati

    9. Central Institute of Hand Tools (CIHT), Jalandhar

    10. Central Institute of Tool Design (CITD), Hyderabad

    11. Electronics Service & Training Centre (ESTC), Ramnagar

    12. Institute for Design of Electrical Measuring Instruments(IDEMI),

    Mumbai.

    13. Fragrance & Flavour Development Centre (FFDC), Kannauj.

    14. Centre for Development of Glass Industry (CDGI), Firozabad.

    15. Process & Product Development Centre (PPDC), Agra.

    16. Process cum Product Development Centre (PPDC), Meerut.

    17. Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI), Agra

    18. Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI), Chennai

  • Out of 18 Technology Centres (TCs), the first 10 TCs (earlier known as Tool Rooms) provide tooling, moulds, dies, etc. to the industry. These TCs also provide training in the area of tool and die making. Today, the TCs are regarded for being highly proficient in mould and die making technology.
  • Despite being more than two decades old, the TCs are still very useful because the Ministry of MSME has supported these centers by keeping them relevant and abreast with latest advancements in the respective field. The Ministry has been investing periodically to upgrade the TCs by introducing new technologies such as 3D Printing, Glass Machining, CAD/CAM, CNC machining for tooling, vacuum heat treatment, Robotics and Process Automation etc. These TCs are concentrating on an integrated development of the related segments of industries by way of providing quality tools, trained personnel and consultancy in tooling and related areas.
  • The remaining Technology Centres, (earlier known as Technology Development Centres - serial number 11 to 18 in the above list) are product specific centres to support MSMEs’ catering to specific sectors by rendering technical services to develop and upgrade technologies, processes and products apart from manpower development and training in the specific product groups like Foundry & Forging, Electronics, Electrical Measuring Instruments, Fragrance & Flavour, Glass, Sport Goods, and footwear designing to support these sectors.


Facilities & Services::

  • (a) Domestic Arena:
    The facilities of the Technology Centres allow for the design and manufacture of sophisticated tools, parts, components and products in conformity with international standards. The latest hardware and software available at these centres ensure professional design and 3D solid modeling. The production facilities at the Technology Centres offer an array of cutting edge production services to MSMEs.
  • In addition, these institutes provide technical services such as design of parts and components, materials testing, heat treatment, quality control, and technical consultancy related to the product & process improvement.
  • The Technology Centres apart from extending design, development & manufacturing support to MSMEs for complex tools, parts and components (many that serve as import substitutes) have also supported the strategic sectors such as aerospace, defence, atomic energy etc. of the country for their R&D requirements.
  • The Technology Centres philosophy of integrated solution for Indian industrial growth is based on the provision of well structured, modular, hands on industry centric training programmes. All courses are regularly updated to keep abreast with global technological advancements. The intake eligibility for the training programmes range from school dropout to
    B-Tech level. Training facilities in the above field call for sophisticated equipment to keep pace with the development elsewhere in the world. It also demands a team of teaching staff, who have acquired practical & theoretical knowledge to equip the trainees to act independently and to lead a team on the shop floor. Various levels of courses, viz., certificate,
    diploma, advanced diploma, post diploma, post graduate diploma and post graduate courses offered by Technology Centres are well accepted by the industry in India and abroad for employment purposes, which is evident from nearly 100% placement of long term trainees. A number of passed out trainees have also established their own enterprises thereby
    contributing in the social and economic development of the country.
  • (b) International footprint:
    The Technology Centres have also developed special training programmes to meet the requirements at international level. Technology Centres are conducting training programmes for international participants sponsored under various agreements like Technical Co-operation Scheme of Colombo (TCS), Special Commonwealth African Assistant Programme (SCAAP), Indian Technical and Economic Co-operation (ITEC), Aid to Sri Lanka etc.
  • Apart from assisting State Governments for setting up of Technology Centres, MSME- Technology Centres have also successfully executed international assignments for setting up Technology Centres and Vocational Training Centres as well as training of trainers for developing countries like Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Tajakistan etc.
  • All the Technology Centres adhere to the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM). They are ISO 9001-2000 certified institutions and a few of them are ISO-14000, OHSAS-18000, ISO-29990 and ISO-50001 certified. Central Tool Room & Training Centre, Bhubaneswar is also AS-9100 certified for Aero-space Component Supply.
  • Way forward
  • Keeping in view the success of TCs in serving MSMEs, the Government felt a strong need to strengthen the TCs network by modernizing the existing TCs and setting up more TCs across the country so that the MSMEs in the unserved and low-income states also get benefitted from such centres. Towards achieving this objective, Ministry of MSME, Government of India is in the process of establishing 15 Technology Centres and upgrading / modernizing the existing TCs under the Technology Centre Systems Programme (TCSP) at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,200 crore including World Bank funding of USD 200 Million. Under this program, work on 13 new Technology Centre is in full swing and the upcoming Technology Centres would be equipped with multiple cutting edge manufacturing technologies, such as CNC Machines, 3D Manufacturing/Additive Manufacturing, Laser / Ultrasonic machining, Robotics and Process Automation, Precision measurement/ Metrology equipment, for General Engineering and Automotive Sector, state-of-the art Electronics Manufacturing Facilities, Calibration and Testing Facilities for Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) Sector. Out of these, 10 new TC are expected to be operational by the end of FY 2018-

    19. The expected start of functioning of all the centres is June, 2020.

  • It is expected that the 15 new TCs will increase the training capacity by 120,000 trainees, taking the total capacity of all 33 TCs together to train about 3,00,000 trainees per year. It may be mentioned here that even with the increased network of 33 TCs across India, a large base of MSMEs will still remain unserved especially in small cities and rural area. In countries like Germany and UK, there is 1 TC (including equivalent institutes and labs) per approximately 26,000 to 30,000 MSMEs, where as in India this ratio is about 1 TC per 2,65,000 MSMEs.
  • Hence, there is an immense need to further increase the geographical footprint of TC Network through future ready new TCs, and vertical and horizontal expansion to cover more states/ regions and reach out to district level through extension centres.
  • To address this issue, recently the Hon'ble Prime Minister has announced the establishment of 20 Technology Centres and 100 Extension Centres (ECs) at an estimated cost of Rs. 6000 crore.
  • Once commissioned the network of Technologically Advanced TCs together with ECs will significantly widen the geographical reach of the TCs. This will boost entrepreneur spirit at grass root level and bring innovation from lab to field. It will reach out to MSMEs which are at the core of manufacturing but have very limited or no access to latest technology. Manufacturing sector currently forms approximately 16% of GDP and MSMEs form an important part of this manufacturing landscape. With approximately 40% contribution to this sector, improving access to technology to MSMEs shall provide a significant boost to the growth of this sector and GDP.