KOCHI: The Union Ministry of Electronics & Technology (Meity) has launched the 'Graphene-Aurora program' in Kerala, aiming to bridge the gap between graphene research and its commercialization.
Meity secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma launched the ‘Graphene-Aurora program’ at a function in Maker Village Kochi on Monday. The program would be implemented by Digital University Kerala with joint funding from MeitY, the Government of India, the Government of Kerala, and industry partners, with a total budget outlay of Rs 94.85 crore, wherein, Carborundum Pvt. Ltd. joined as one of the main industry partners, a release said here.
Sharma said Kerala has been at the forefront of establishing a complete ecosystem for Graphene product development and commercialization.
The establishment of the India Graphene Engineering and Innovation Centre (I-GEIC) will play a pivotal role in this effort. The initial operations of I-GEIC will start from the recently opened facility of the Government of Kerala at Digital Science Park in Trivandrum," the release said. It shall fill the gap between R&D and commercialization by providing a complete facility to startups and industry.
Sharma said I-GEIC would nurture the deep/emerging graphene technology & innovation ecosystem that can guide, develop, implement, and support SMEs and startups to commercialize developed graphene technologies for scale adoption. He also mentioned that creating a commercialization ecosystem for graphene as an emerging technology would help India take a pole position in the world’s new material market.
Sharma appreciated the support the Government of Kerala provided in taking the lead in several firsts in the country. He highlighted the progress and contributions of Maker Village, to the development of hardware startups in the country, and assured MeitY’s support for the creation of a complete ecosystem for electronic product testing.
He also appreciated the outcomes of other MeitY-funded Centre of Excellence on IIOT Sensors and the India Innovation Centre for Graphene that complement the solutions from materials, and sensors to system integration, and electronic product development.
Dr Rathan Kelkar, IAS, Secretary, Department of Electronics and IT, GoK; Suman Billa, IAS, Principal Secretary, Industries Department, GoK; Dr Saji Gopinath, Vice Chancellor, Digital University Kerala; Sunita Verma, Group Coordinator, MeitY; Prof Alex James, CI, Graphene Aurora program, and Shri Kamesh Gupta, Co-CI, Graphene Aurora; Dr P S Jayan, Carborundum Private Limited were also present on the occasion.