Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari today called upon the Research institutes in Vidarbha to utilize abundant reserves of natural resources like forest produce, coal with appropriate use of the technology. He was speaking after inaugurating the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of VNIT (Vishveshwarya National Institute of Technology) at Nagpur in Maharashtra today. Mr. Gadkari said, the country is importing raw materials like news print, medical equipment, wood pulp.

Research institutes must develop appropriate technologies through cooperation, coordination, and communication with relevant organizations that provide such raw materials. He hoped that this would stimulate industry generation in the backward areas. He also announced that the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises will provide assistance worth 200 crore rupees for setting up of ‘Technology Research and Excellence Center’ at  VNIT.

Mr. Gadkari also inaugurated the ‘Siemens Center of Excellence’ center at VNIT to mark the  Diamond  Jubilee Celebrations. This center will have state-of-the-art labs of  Robotics, Machine Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence. He also inaugurated a statue of Sir Vishveshwarya on this occasion.

The diamond jubilee celebrations at VNIT will include yearlong educational activities, workshops, guest lectures, and research and extension activities.