The Central government has invited bids to develop a technology centre in Coimbatore for the Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) at ₹167.82 crore.
Ircon International Limited, a public sector undertaking, called for proposals from bidders to develop the MSME technology centre on public private partnership mode (build, operate, transfer basis).
The Central government had announced over five years ago that an MSME technology centre would be set up in Coimbatore at totally ₹400 crore and the State government was to allocate land for the project.
The State government gave 12 acres for the project near Arasur and the MSME associations had submitted a list of the requirements of the units here for the next 10 - 15 years. The plan was to have development and testing facilities, said industry sources here.
The Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) plans to be part of the project, though it will depend on the parameters required. Those interested should submit the bid by April 10, Ircon International has said.
The technology centre was a must-need for Coimbatore given the presence of a large number of MSMEs and also because of the growth of emerging sectors such as Defence and electric vehicles here. The list of requirements would be reviewed and finalised once the project started taking shape, said the industry sources.
