CMD RINL Inaugurates Prestigious “Center for Entrepreneurship on Industry 4.0”

At a glittering program held at RINL, Shri Atul Bhatt, CMD, RINL and chief mentor, Kalpataru inaugurated the most prestigious project “Center for Entrepreneurship on Industry 4.0” namely Kalpataru in Ukkunagaram township of Visakhapatnam steel Plant to incubate and nurture the Startups on Industry 4.0.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Atul Bhatt, CMD, RINL said that it is a momentous day not only for RINL but also for the City of Visakhapatnam. “This Centre would be instrumental in fulfilling the vision of Atmanirbhar scheme of Government of India. This center offers the best of ecosystem to ‘Start Ups’ as problems statements is provided by customers, risk is covered by CoE, back up support in terms of Infrastructure is from STPI, Academic help from AU & IIM- V, and technology support from reputed Organizations.”, Shri Atul Bhatt said.

Hoping to see “Unicorn ” coming out of this Centre as Huge opportunity is lying ahead, Shri Atul Bhatt CMD said that In the next coming decade India will be augmenting steel capacity by another 150 Million Ton through Green field project with massive investment and If the Startup can provide effective solution to problem of steel industry then return on investment(ROI) will be huge.

“Entrepreneurship & Skill Set available in the state of AP is second to none”, pointed Sri Atul Bhatt and expressed his confidence & excitement as we all embark on a new journey of Digital transformation in Steel Industry with the start of this center.

With this Project Vizag will grow as Industry 4.0 Startup hub, Direct & indirect generation and Vizag Economy will grow.

RINL in consortium with MeitY, STPI, STPINEXT and Govt. of AP have taken up this project to set up the Incubation Center at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant with a combined funding. (STPI: Software Technology Parks of India, MeitY: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, APIS : AP Innovation Society)

This incubation Center is hosting Laboratories such as Robotics, Drones, AI/ML, IIOT, AR/VR (AI: artificial Intelligence, ML: Machine Learning, IIOT : Industrial Internet of things, AR: Augmented Reality, VR: Virtual Reality) and 3D Printing to help support the design of the solutions/products for the Industrial Problems using Industry 4.0 Technologies.

This Project is unique in two ways one this is the first incubation Center under MeitY with whole gamut of Industry 4.0 technologies and other is that this is first project under MeitY with strong public sector backing wherein the PSU provide the Problem Statements i.e., feed for the startups incubation.

Using the ecosystem of Kalpataru, Startups will get nurtured to provide products / Solutions to Industrial Problems of RINL and other Industries in and around Vizag. This will give a big boost to the Indian Automation Industry and which will augment the exports and reduce the imports of Automation Equipment. The Eco-system of Incubation center encompasses Laboratories, Sitting Place for Startups, startups, Mentors, Industrial backup and any other which will help startups to develop solutions for the problems of Industries using Industry 4.0 Technologies.

The objective of the eco system is to nurture 175 startups across India using the Problem statements from RINL and other Industries.

Today five startups have been on boarded for the five problem statements of RINL and RINL exchanged MoUs with 5 startups in the august presence Shri Atul Bhatt, CMD, RINL, Shri Anil Kumar, CEO, AP Innovation society, Govt. of AP, Shri V. Krishnamohan, Registrar, Andhra University, Shri CVD Ramprasad, Jurisdictional director STPI, AP & Telangana & CEO, STPI Next STPI, Shri A. K. Bagchi, Director (Projects) and additional charge Director (Operations), RINL.

MoUs were also exchanged with partners of Kalpataru CoE like EOS(Electro optical system),IIM Vizag and Lotus wireless who will provide the mentoring services for the startups.

Shri Anil Kumar, CEO, AP Innovation society, Govt. of AP has elaborated about the key initiatives being taken by the Govt of AP in encouraging various startups, Sri V. Krishnamohan, Registrar, Andhra University, Sri CVD Ramprasad, Jurisdictional director STPI, AP & Telangana & CEO, STPI Next lauded the efforts of Sri Atul Bhatt, CMD, RINL in taking the lead in setting up of the Kalpataru Center for Entrepreneurship on Industry 4.0 at Visakhapatnam steel Plant.

A host of Startups, heads of IT Companies, Senior officers of Public Sector Undertaking such as RINL, HSY, NTPC, BHEL, HPCL were also present.

Dr. P. Chandrasekhar, GM RINL welcomed the gathering, and the programme ended with formal vote of thanks by Shri. Suresh Bhata, Addl. Director, STPI, Vizag.