South Gujarat’s first CEFC for MSMEs to be set up; technology gap in MSMEs will reduce: SETU Chief

Surat, Dec 16 (KNN) The Science Engineering and Technology Upliftment (SETU) Foundation along with the Department of Heavy Industries, Union Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, is setting up Common Engineering Facility Centre (CEFC) near Bardoli, Surat in Gujarat.

In this regard, the two sides will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU)

Talking to KNN, Hetal Mehta, Chairman, SETU, said, “It is first Common Engineering Facility Centre in south Gujarat. The centre has two motives - one is to support the Make in India concept and second is Skill Development.”

Mehta said, “The Centre is promoted by the local industry associations including Surat Engineering Vikas Association (SEVA), Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association of India (TMMAI) and the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Education Society. This will be set up on 5 acres of land at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore.

“It is basically an integration centre. SEVA and TMMAI are the two promoters. Sardar Vallabhai Patel Education Society also joined in the initiative by supporting us with the required land” said SETU Chairman.

The centre has been especially designed for the MSMEs and will help the engineering businesses grow, Mehta said.

“This is basically a cluster of MSMEs so they are supposed to take benefit from it. It has been designed for the MSMEs only because the whole engineering business is scattered in this region,” said Mehta.

He also added that the objective is to reduce the technology gap between the Indian MSMEs and the MSMEs across the globe.

“The technology gap is very large as compared to rest of the world; the gap is being reduced by the import that is not benefiting the country. Centre will help in reducing the gap,” he added. (KNN/RAS)