TIDCO-Tata's Rs 400 crore centre at Coimbatore Anna University to take TN on high-tech highway

CHENNAI: Among the projects worth Rs 51,157 crore for which the foundation stones were laid at the Tamil Nadu Investment Conclave 2024 on Wednesday, a small Rs 400 crore project arrested the attention of every onlooker.

It was TN Engine (Tamil Nadu Engineering and Innovation Centre), a collaboration between TIDCO and Tata Technologies Ltd to be developed as a Common Engineering Facility Centre on the Coimbatore campus of Anna University to unlock the potential of the state and catalyze its growth in the engineering and manufacturing sector.

A first of its kind initiative in the country, it would feature nine Emerging Technology Labs to be developed in two phases. In the first phase, TN Engine would set up four advanced labs with state of art equipment at Rs 166.84 crore. A Design and Engineering lab for new product development (NPD), Virtual validation and product life cycle management, Advance Machining Lab for aerospace components manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing Lab with metal 3D printers for prototyping and Material Testing Lab for precision inspection and critical testing.

The labs would provide crucial engineering support to Startups, emerging MSMEs and academia in domains of aero design and development, MRO (maintenance repair and operations), industrial robotics, manufacturing and electrical, composites and avionics, mechatronics and testing. The TN Engine has been conceptualised and implemented to unlock potential for adoption of emerging technologies, especially in aerospace and defence.

Investors all praise for state’s initiatives

Chennai: Investors at the Tamil Nadu Investment Conclave 2024 were all praise for the state government, thanks to the enthusiasm and speed with which its agencies like Guidance Tamil Nadu and SIPCOT worked to create a conducive investment climate. B Santhanam, CEO of Saint Gobain India Pvt Ltd, whose firm broke ground to invest Rs 3,400 crore for its new manufacturing unit committed during the Global Investors Meet says, “The site selected for the unit was originally a Special Economic Zone. It was converted into a normal one in a very rapid time. The Tamil Nadu government, during the last two decades, treats you like a partner and solves your problems. Guidance and SIPCOT work in unison to support us. Tamil Nadu is not strong only in India. Tamil Nadu stands ahead, when I compare it with some other countries in Asia, especially for the manufacturing industry focused on sustainability.” Vipul Tuli, Chairman - Sembcorp, South Asia & CEO Hydrogen & Middle East said, “We have been quite delighted by the response of the bureaucracy, which showed very smooth ease of doing business in Tamil Nadu. In a project like ours, there are always many issues to be aligned. What matters is the professionalism and pro-activeness and the speed with which the whole government has got in together to help us through with all these. I would say a real Thumbs up to the government.” Takuto Iwanka, managing director of Omron Healthcare Manufacturing India Pvt Ltd said, “We are happy to see very strong support, especially from the government and Guidance. That is why we actually chose TN and Chennai. Infrastructure in TN is very good.”