The Hindu Business Line : IIT-Kharagpur's tech park plans to set up steel design centre

SCIENCE and Technology Entrepreneurs' Park (STEP) of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) plans to set up a steel design and analysis centre and a training centre for advanced cutting and welding technology. This is for facilitating an increase in the production and consumption of steel in the country.

The Union Ministry of Steel has been approached with a proposal to grant Rs 2 crore for the project, according to Prof. Nisith R. Mandal, Managing Director of STEP, IIT-KGP.

In an interview with Business Line, Prof Mandal said that, instead of concrete, more steel could be used in infrastructure projects such as bridges and flyovers. "Steel bridges have longer spans, and hence, the number of piers and bearings is less. As such, bridges that use more steel are very cost-effective," he said. He added that the average length of concrete spans is 20-24 metres, whereas the length of steel spans can "safely go up to 80-100 metres." Besides, concrete spans need in-situ fabrication and, hence, road space gets blocked.

According to him, two presentations in this regard have already been made to Steel Ministry officials. "We propose to impart advanced skills to engineers and technicians practicing on the shop floor to ensure an increase in productivity as also in steel consumption," he said. Besides undertaking advanced research and development and training, the proposed steel design and analysis centre will also offer design and technical support services to the industry on a case-to-case basis. Prof. Mandal said STEP, IIT-KGP, has asked for funding from the Tea Board for pursuing a project that would focus on extracting medicinal derivatives from tea. STEP already has 10 acres under tea cultivation and a tea-processing unit has also been set up.

"We are working on plans to extract medicinal derivatives such as anti-oxidants and polyphenol from tea. In fact, we are encouraging local entrepreneurs with a buyback arrangement so that they can cultivate green teas. We will buy their teas and extract medicinal derivatives that are in great demand from the nutrition products industry," he said. Currently, 22 companies operate under the STEP umbrella. Prominent among them are a tea-processing unit, a fibre-glass composite dish antenna unit for direct-to-home applications, a water-jet-propelled foil-assisted catamaran unit, a medicinal plantation, an aromatic oils unit and an organic fertiliser unit. STEP, IIT-KGP, has also developed a 200-kg payload wing-in-ground effect vessel.

The Visakhapatnam-based Naval Science & Technology Laboratory is the client for the product, which finds application in rescue operations during floods. Prof. Mandal said that STEP does not receive any budgetary support from the Department of Science & Technology. Its earnings were Rs 10 lakh in 2004-05.

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