Maker Village to Set up Graphene Unit of Excellence: Electronics & IT Secretary

KOCHI:
A graphene-manufacturing unit of excellence will shortly open at Maker Village in the city as a Rs 94.85-crore joint endeavour of the Union and Kerala governments, a top bureaucrat said today.

The proposed project aimed at boosting the production of the valuable allotrope of carbon will mark a new chapter of innovation in the country’s technological field, according to Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary, Electronics & IT, Government of India.

“Our companies should strive to make best advantage out of today’s environment that focuses on electronics and information technology. As innovation and geniuses form crucial to the system, graphene has become a thoroughly futuristic product,” he noted at the launch of a Graphene Aurora program after a visit to Maker Village, which is the country’s largest electronic hardware incubator and ESDM facility.

Sharma said Maker Village at Kalamassery has been the model for other states in electronics incubation. “The IT sector must work towards raising the reputation of India, backed by a determined administration amid a hope-filled world of industry,” he added.

Kerala Principal Secretary (Industries & NORKA) Suman Billa said the state has selected 22 industrial sectors suiting its ecosystem. “As we work on strengthening them, the focus will be on the electronics and IT companies,” he said. “We will promote projects that integrate academic research that can be of practical use.”

State IT Secretary Dr Rathan U. Kelkar said Kerala was set to complete an array of startup- boosting projects in the next five years. “The industrial sector is earning excellent support from the IT sector,” he pointed out.

Kerala Digital University Vice-Chancellor Dr Saji Gopinath said the 2016-founded Maker Village initially envisaged the incubation of 40 startups, but overshot the target by taking the total to 140. “Today, startups here even collaborate with the Defence sector,” he revealed.

The other senior officials who spoke at the function included Ministry of Electronics and IT Group Coordinator (R&D-E, Kerala) Sunita Verma, Prof Alex James of Kerala Digital University, Carborundum Universal Ltd Executive Vice President (EMD) Jayan P.S. and Dr Kamesh Gupta of Graphene Aurora.

Maker Village, which is a pioneering startup initiative of the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has Indian Institute of Information Technology-Trivandrum as the implementation agency and Kerala Startup Mission as the supporting partner.  KSUM is the state government’s nodal agency established in 2006 for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.