Bengaluru, Dec 13 (IANS): The Karnataka government-funded ARTPARK-IISc has received approval from the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) to set up an industry accelerator Centre for Advanced Manufacturing for Robotics and Autonomous Systems (CAMRAS) for technology development in robotics and autonomous systems, according to an official statement.
ARTPARK-IISc aims to reduce the import footprint of robotic and autonomous systems, drones, motors, electronic regulators and printed circuits while readying the next- generation companies estimated to be worth thousands of crores in these chosen focus areas.
The organisation will also spearhead a skilling programme to train 2,800 professionals in the field of next-generation advanced manufacturing for robotics and autonomous technologies by 2025.
Commenting on the development, C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology, Science and Technology, Karnataka government, said, "I'm delighted to see ARTPARK lighting the path to developing new age technology. It is a fine example of how public-private partnerships can truly shape the industry and bring about a massive change in strengthening India's domestic capabilities in key high-tech sectors."
"It is a proud moment for the Karnataka government to see a foundation it has nurtured to grow and succeed within two years of inception. We will continue to be forthcoming in encouraging innovation and facilitating new start-ups."
Five of ARTPARK's pre-ventures in the areas of advanced cargo drones, robotic actuators, legged robots, autonomous systems charging and intelligent controllers will form an MHI Accelerator named CAMRAS.
The MHI approval comes under the component of "setting up of 10 industry accelerators for technology development" of the scheme for enhancement of competitiveness in the Indian capital goods sector-Phase-2 notified earlier this year.
MHI has been providing strong momentum under its various schemes to drive manufacturing leadership for India globally, aligned to 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' objectives.
Set up in 2020, ARTPARK-IISc is India's first Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics Technology Park, and aims at promoting technology innovations in AI and Robotics, leading to societal impact by implementing projects in healthcare, education, mobility, infrastructure, agriculture, retail and cyber-security focusing on problems unique to India.
Promoted by IISc (Indian Institute of Science) and supported by AI-foundry, it has received seed funding of Rs 230 crore from the Department of Science and Technology (Government of India) and the Karnataka government.
Umakant Soni, ARTPARK CEO, said, "Robotics and autonomous systems like drones will create a new economic value which is north of $300bn and will herald the high-value jobs and IP creation opportunity for the Indian ecosystem. The CAMRAS accelerator support from the MHI in a public-private model is visionary and is going to seed a critical ecosystem for #AatmanirbharBharat."
MHI, under its scheme, has appointed a distinguished Project Review and Monitoring Committee to provide enablement and assessment of these programmes at ARTPARK-IISc.