Hyderabad is in the race to host the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing (NCAM) that the Central government has proposed to accelerate digital revolution of industrial production.
Additive manufacturing or AM, better known as 3D printing, is revolutionising product design and on-location manufacturing globally, according to a discussion paper on the upcoming National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing.
Inviting comments on the strategy, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said AM is enabling radical product design and re-design, which further accelerate development of new material properties. It is also contributing to transformation of business capabilities through production of more sustainable designs realised at lower cost.
The NCAM will be one of its kind facility in the country. While many States are in contention, Telangana is hopeful of bagging the facility given the ecosystem in Hyderabad as well as the presence of T-Works, IT and Industries Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said.
The Emerging Technologies Wing of the IT Department had recently organised a virtual stakeholder consultation workshop to fine tune the State’s strategy with regard to AM. A release on Wednesday said the consultation identified initiatives to drive the adoption of AM in industry and match global standards.
“NCAM will nurture domestic AM industry, reduce import dependency of domestic market and position India as a global hub for Additive Manufacturing development and deployment. The centre will serve national objectives like self-reliance,” Mr. Ranjan said.
The stakeholders meeting stressed on setting up a world-class state of the art facility for industrial use with necessary infrastructure and resources to enable research and development and innovation, product design and development, skilling and capacity building programmes.
The consultation workshop emphasised on the significance of establishing a global innovation and research hub for AM as also building a world-class skilled workforce on designing and developing AM products.
After the roundtable, Mr.Ranjan had tweeted: “Received very valuable inputs to conceptualise and formulate a proposal on setting up National Centre for Additive Manufacturing.”
The discussion paper said the Union Ministry is in the process of evolving a strategy to promote all the verticals of the AM sector, including machines, materials, software and designs to leverage the untapped business opportunities in this emerging technology will unfold in the near future. The plan is to establish a National Centre on AM for harnessing AM transformation and driving capabilities by continuously engaging all key stakeholders.
