About 150 Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Coimbatore city have come together to form a cluster and take up development, testing, and production of motors for electric vehicles (EVs).
D. Vignesh, president of the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association (SIEMA), told The Hindu on Tuesday that the SIEMA, Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA), and the Scientific and Industrial Testing and Research Centre (Si’Tarc) initiated the cluster project jointly. “We submitted a detailed project report to the Tamil Nadu government to set up motor development and testing facilities under the micro cluster project,” he said.
Coimbatore has a large number of motor manufacturing industries. These units need to transition to the EV sector to meet the requirements of the emerging sector. Hence, it was decided to implement a cluster project. The EV manufacturers import motors in large numbers, mainly from China, and the Central government is encouraging use of domestic motors. The market potential is high for EV motors made in India.
As part of this project, a 45-day training programme is on currently in Coimbatore, held jointly with the World Resources Institute and the Laghu Udyog Bharati for the management and staff of the units interested in the EV sector. The Si’Tarc has also an EV motor to study how it is made and discussions were held with the motor component manufacturers to understand their needs and scope.
Meanwhile, the associations are also reworking the DPR with focus on motor testing facility to come up at Si’Tarc, he said.
An official associated with the project in Coimbatore said the cluster project is likely to be implemented under a central government scheme.
