Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry to become gateway for MSMEs to access CSIR tech

Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Gujarat will soon be able to access technology of Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (II-CT) of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CS-IR). Leaders of IICT and Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) will soon concretize the agreement.

This will involve technological research for MSMEs, Transfer of Technology (ToT) as well as solutions related to effluent treatments. The announcement was made during an interactive meet between members of GCCI and senior officials of CSIR – IICT in Ahmedabad on Thursday. S Chandrasekhar, director of CSIR-IICT said that until recently, over three dozen laboratories of CSIR was partnering with large companies and institutes affiliated to Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). Such partnerships with MSMEs is a recent phenomenon. "We have a similar arrangement with bulk drug manufacturers in Hyderabad. We are eyeing MSMEs from Gujarat as well," said Chandrasekhar.

GCCI president Jaimin Vasa said that GCCI will act as a single point contact for local MSMEs willing to access technology of IICT or outsourcing Research and Development (R&D) to IICT. "Companies in fields of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, or for that matter any sector which may find technology of IICT useful can approach GCCI for the same," said Vasa. Chandrasekhar said that the collaboration will be useful for MSMEs as they cannot conduct in-house R&D, but they require it as much as their larger peers.