Bids invited to develop MSME technology centre in Coimbatore
Sunday, March 17, 2024
The Central government has invited bids to develop a technology centre in Coimbatore for the Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) at ₹167.82 crore.
Ircon International Limited, a public sector undertaking, called for proposals from bidders to develop the MSME technology centre on public private partnership mode (build, operate, transfer basis).
The Central government had announced over five years ago that an MSME technology centre would be set up in Coimbatore at totally ₹400 crore and the State government was to allocate land for the project.
The State government gave 12 acres for the project near Arasur and the MSME associations had submitted a list of the requirements of the units here for the next 10 - 15 years.
The plan was to have development and testing facilities, said industry sources here.
Parameters
The Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) plans to be part of the project, though it will depend on the parameters required. Those interested should submit the bid by April 10, Ircon International has said.
The technology centre was a must-need for Coimbatore given the presence of a large number of MSMEs and also because of the growth of emerging sectors such as Defence and electric vehicles here. The list of requirements would be reviewed and finalised once the project started taking shape, said the industry sources.
The Coonoor Consumer Protection Association has called on the Regional Transport Officer to cancel the licences of TNSTC buses that are overcharging passengers on the pretext of operating ‘Express’ bus services.
In a statement, S. Manogaran, president of the Association, said the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) in the Nilgiris was operating ‘Express’ bus services at a higher cost to passengers. “As per a response by the Regional Transport Officer, it has come to light that the TNSTC has permission to run all 349 vehicles only as ‘ordinary’ buses, but they are charging excess fares and operating ‘Express’ services.”
For Express buses to be permitted to operate, there must be a minimum of 25 km between two bus stops.
For Express buses to be permitted to operate, there must be a minimum of 25 km between two bus stops and the cumulative distance of the bus route must exceed 80 km, he said.
The Association, which approached the Madras High Court with a Public Interest Litigation about the issue, recently got an order passed in their favour. Mr. Manogaran said
one of their contentions before the court was that the compounding fee charged as a punishment to the TNSTC was inadequate. “It is the government that is operating the express services illegally, profiting from overcharging people and is also collecting fines for itself, so there is no deterrence,” he said. The court had also observed that “mere levying of compounding fees would not be the only solution” to the issue of charging excess fares stating that the enforcement of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provided for suspension and/or cancellation of permits issued to the transport operators.
Mr. Manogaran said the ‘minimum fare’ in ‘Express’ buses was ₹11 in the Nilgiris and alleged that the TNSTC was arbitrarily extending bus services along routes to exceed the 80 km threshold required to operate the ‘Express’ buses. “Even if a person travels one km in such buses, they have to pay the minimum fare of ₹11, and as the Nilgiris’ residents are dependent on the TNSTC due to no private bus operators in the Nilgiris, it is even more imperative that the RTO take action against the buses,” said Mr. Manogaran.
Mani, a coconut farmer at Negamam in Coimbatore district, gets almost 25% higher yield compared to four years ago. His coconut trees on three acres were hit by pest attacks. He was able to overcome the challenge and increase yield after joining the Kalpavriksha project.
Sasikumar, who has 200 coconut trees at Negamam, says it took 1.5 years for the yield to start improving after his trees were hit by disease four years ago. He also joined the Kalpavriksha project as resources persons were accessible during any time of the day and were ready to offer solutions.
According to Amit Bhasin, Chief Legal Officer and secretary of the CSR Committee of Marico, the Parachute Kalpavriksha Foundation has impacted nearly 81,000 coconut farmers such as Mani and Sasikumar, mostly in Tamil Nadu. The project is active in Pollachi