UT Administration plans to make Chandigarh a tech hub

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 16

To address the growing needs of the industry in the region, the UT Administration has taken a first-of-its-kind initiative to develop Chandigarh as a centre to provide technical knowhow.

To begin with, a team of experts, led by UT Adviser Dharam Pal, conducted a study tour of the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) at Manesar in Gurugram, a testing and certification centre for automobiles, on Wednesday.

The experts, including Dr Baldev Setia, Director, Punjab Engineering College, Prof Manu Sharma, Coordinator, Technology Enabling Centre, PU, Dr Satish Kumar, Chief Scientist at CSIO, Manish Gupta, Chairman, CII, Chandigarh, and Rajiv Prashad, Director, Industries, UT, had a detailed deliberation with ICAT Director Dinesh Tyagi and other experts on the kind of facilities the centre is offering, the gaps and whether Chandigarh can play a role in filling these.

On developing Chandigarh as a technological hub of the region, UT Adviser Dharam Pal said, “We are trying to figure out the kind of facilities that need to be created in Chandigarh to cater to the industrial requirements of the region, including Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.”

Being a land-locked city, no new big industry could be set up in the city, he said, adding that keeping in mind the space constraint, a lead could be taken on the technological front. “Now, we are working on how Chandigarh can be developed as a technological hub,” he said, adding that testing, certification and research centres could be set up in the city.

Dr Satish Kumar said, “As of now, we are open to all ideas as we have to work according to the needs of the industry and the challenges faced by it.” To start with, they would first hold interactions with the industry and take all stakeholders, including institutes, on board, he said, adding that soon a concrete plan with a focused programme would be prepared for Chandigarh, which would have a national impact, but work would be of the international level.

The centre would have several wings, including research, incubation, IT, accelerator and manufacturing platform, he added.

“We have to understand what can be done in Chandigarh which will have local connectivity, but global impact so that the city becomes the fountainhead of providing technical solution to the requirements of the industry and end-users,” said Prof Manu Sharma. A research and development centre could also be explored as Chandigarh had a high density of scientists, intellectuals and technicians, he said.