Foundries Development Foundation, TIDCO unite to setup centre of excellence for foundry industry in Coimbatore

Coimbatore, Aug 16 (KNN) The Foundries Development Foundation (FDF) in partnership with the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) is setting up a Centre of excellence for the Foundry industry in Coimbatore.

The centre of excellence will be used to produce castings, train workers, and demonstrate new technologies. It will begin operations by April next year.

Nithyanandan Devaraj, a Director at FDF, told The Hindu that the Rs 35 crore project, including Rs 10 crore investment from TIDCO, will be used for casting development and skill training.

Around three acres of land has been purchased by FDF at the CODISSIA Industrial Park at Moperipalayam for building the centre.

“The centre will have the capacity to produce 300 tonnes of castings a month and train nearly 800 workers a year in four batches,” Devaraj said.

The FDF is looking at different models to train the new workers and hopes for support from the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Council. “Tamil Nadu foundries require about a lakh workers a year. We are mostly working with migrant workers now. The situation has to change,” he said.

With the aim to train workers in different shopfloor skills and to provide later date post-diploma and post-graduate programmes, the Foundries Development Foundation is planning to collaborate with Indo-German Training Centre and the National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology. (KNN Bureau)