Robotics Park: Kerala to set up first robotics park in Thrissur: Minister P Rajeeve

Kerala will establish its first robotic park in ThrissurAnnouncing a new chapter that will boost innovationcollaboration and growth in the field of artificial intelligenceSpeaking at a roundtable discussion on robotics organised here on Friday, Industries Minister P. Rajeeve said the project will have four sections.

It will be built on a 10-acre plot in the central Kerala town with the help of the district panchayat. Rajeeve also informed that the state government will hold the Global Investors Meet on February 21 and 22 next year in the town.

The roundtable was organised at the Grand Hyatt hotel on Bolgatty Island by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) in association with the Department of Industry and Commerce. The minister noted that the Robotics Roundtable was the beginning of the state’s journey to transform the society into a hub of high-tech manufacturing technology industries and said the Global Investors Meet will be the culmination of precursor events including a series of roundtables focusing on 12 sectors, roadshows and the release of further papers on 22 priority sectors.

“KSIDC is willing to make equity investments in five robotics startups this financial year. After examining the applications, KSIDC will make equity investments as a fund of funds. In addition, KSIDC will increase the loan for robotics startups from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore,” Rajeeve said.

The minister also gave away awards to the best exhibitors of the exhibition held under the umbrella of the event. The awardees included Fuselage Innovations, Genrobotics, Benditta Bionics, Xalten Systems, Estro Tech and Asimov Robotics. Principal Secretary (Industry and Commerce) APM Mohammed Hanish was also present. Earlier in the day, Inker Robotics CEO Rahul Balachandran while addressing a session said that the proposed robotics park will have RoboLand as its first section, which will facilitate the public to gain first-hand knowledge about the world of robotics.

“There will be programmes related to AI and audio-visual reality,” he said at the panel discussion on ‘Boost Your Business: Fostering Dynamic Government-Industry Partnerships for Future Innovations’. The remaining three wings will be an institute for robotics courses, a centre for robot production and development by Inker, which is a Kochi-based startup designing solutions to transform industries, and an incubator that can take over 10 nascent companies, KSIDC said in a statement.

The day-long event discussed what Kerala can look forward to in becoming a hub for robotics technology, it said. A total of 195 startups participated in the event, which saw over 400 delegates and featured an exhibition of 35 stalls. The roundtable is the third in a series of missions by the government that seek to strengthen the links between the state and the innovative technology sector in order to facilitate a suitable ecosystem.

The inaugural chapter was an International Conclave on Genetic Artificial Intelligence held in association with IBM in Kochi last month. A subsequent meeting was attended by 300 entrepreneurs who put in a total investment of Rs 12,000 crore over the past three years. Recently, the organisers organised a roadshow in Chennai. More are being held in Mumbai, Delhi, Dubai, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.