Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated (virtually) the IIT Bombay Research Park Building and also laid the foundation stone of Academic and Residential buildings at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay today.
IIT Bombay Research Park was constructed at a cost of Rs 225 crores, utilizing Rs 100 Cr from the grant by the Ministry of Education, Rs 67 Cr from HEFA loan, and Rs 58 Cr from IITB internal revenue generation. The Research Park is a G+14 floor building with 5 lakhs square feet of built-up space.
The Honourable Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of Efficiency Apartments, Hostel 04, Academic Sciences Blocks for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; Bio-School and Central Animal Facility, Academic Block 1 & 2. The total cost of the projects for which the foundation stone was laid is over Rs. 1120 crores.
The function at IIT Bombay was attended by the Guest of Honor, Member of Parliament (Mumbai North-East) Shri Manoj Kotak, Chairperson of the Board of Governors of IIT Bombay Dr. Sharad Saraf, Director of IIT Bombay Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri, Professor-In-Charge of the IIT Bombay Research Park Foundation Prof. Swaroop Ganguly and Institute functionaries.
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi said, “The government of today invests maximum expenditure for the modern education of the present and future generations”.
The Chairperson of the Board of Governors of IIT Bombay Dr. Sharad Saraf congratulated the Institute.
Guest of Honor, Member of Parliament (Mumbai North-East), Shri Manoj Kotak congratulated the Institute functionaries on this milestone.
Director of IIT Bombay Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri presented before the guests an overview of the Institute’s research work and ecosystem and its growth over the years. In his address, Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri said, “IIT Bombay is extending the IITB Research Partnership program by investing in a dedicated facility, the IITB Research Park, where our industry partners can co-locate their researchers and staff in the IIT Bombay campus. The Research Park will be a hub for innovation and collaboration between academia and industry. It will be organised into clusters, in core and emerging areas such as Bio Engineering and Healthcare. Sustainability and Clean Energy, Semiconductors and Quantum Tech, Materials and Smart Manufacturing, eMobility, AI Robotics and automation, geospatial tech, etc. Each of these clusters will comprise, in addition to anchor corporate partners, startups from the IITB ecosystem in related areas, and IITB translational research labs and facilities. This close proximity between researchers, corporates, MSMEs and entrepreneurs will result in spontaneous and vibrant collaboration between all these participants of the innovation ecosystem”.
“Early adopters included promising startups like Neodocs; as well as multinational corporates like UbiSoft, Murata and Applied Materials” he added.
"The global CTO of Applied Materials, Dr. Om Nalamasu, calls the relationship with IIT Bombay “probably the deepest and longest collaboration between an Indian Research University and an MNC”.
The key contributors involved in the execution of the Research Park building were also felicitated during the function.
About IIT Bombay Research Park:
The goal of IIT Bombay Research Park is to promote effective two-way interaction between IIT Bombay researchers and real-world problem solvers. Some of the key sectors envisaged as potential areas for collaboration are information and communication technology, semiconductors, energy, chemical engineering and mechanical engineering. The vision of the Research Park is to enable Research & Development and collaboration with large companies, small and medium enterprises, and technology startups.
About the IITB RPF building:
The Research Park has centralized HVAC with individualized tap-off; versatile design features, such as heavier load bearing on lower floors and effluent treatment provisioning, to accommodate diverse industry sectors. It also houses multiple conference and collaboration rooms, an auditorium, a creche, and a food court – which is where we are assembled today. It is strategically located at the north end of the IITB campus and has unhindered access to all other facilities of the IIT campus. IITB RP will act as a single window for its members, improving their ease of doing business with IITB by facilitating members to easily find and access expertise of IITB across its centres of excellence and student tech clubs. It will have dedicated staff to handhold industry through the formalization of engagements for these relationships. For MSMEs and startups, it will also facilitate bringing to market the breakthroughs that are generated by such collaborations.
The entire event was broadcast live on the YouTube link: