MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu government will soon set up a research park on 20 acres of Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) premises at an estimated cost of `50 crore, on par with the same on IIT Madras premises.
Speaking to TNIE, MKU Vice-Chancellor J Kumar said that the land for the park was identified in front of the main campus and that the department secretaries concerned were ratified after an inspection, adding that it will be placed before the syndicate for approval.
"The research park will be helpful for the students and teaching faculties to share and execute start-up projects. Though many university faculties have already received pattern rights for invention and innovation, they are finding it difficult to get industrial collaboration and market their ideas. The research park will allow them to connect with more industries for executing their works," he said.
He further stated that at present 30 companies, including Velammal Hospital, Agro Food Chamber and Bioinformatics companies, have shown interest to set up their companies at the proposed park. "If it is placed here, more start-ups and medical companies may rent out spaces here. Research parks provide locations that foster innovation, development and commercialisation of technology, and collaborations between governments, universities and private companies. The developers of the park work in fields such as information technology, pharmaceuticals, and science and engineering," he said.
"Tamil Nadu will release the fund in a phased manner. We expect to commence the work very soon as it will definitely increase the scope of research and development, while contributing to the growth of southern districts," he added.