The Hindu Business Line : Kalam moots R&D lab for Coimbatore small-scale units

Coimbatore, May1 The former President, Mr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, today urged the Coimbatore industrial cluster to set up a good R & D laboratory to exclusively support the small-scale industries in the region and such a facility should be frequently upgraded to keep pace with the changes and needs of the industry.

Mr Kalam said India accounted for about 11 million SSI units and this sector formed the backbone of the country’s manufacturing economy. Mr Kalam was speaking after presenting the ‘creator of prosperity’ award to industrialist Mr D. Balasundaram, founder of Textool Company Ltd.

The function was organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore.

Accepting the award, Mr Balasundaram felt that greater challenge lay not in setting up an unit but in making industry continuously grow and growth cannot be achieved by big industrial units alone.

The SSI industry can excel in quality manufacture but their needs are different and they required special policy dispensation including exclusive R and D facilities, he added.

Speaking on the theme ‘work with integrity and succeed with integrity’, Mr Kalam said this formed the basis for the corporate social responsibility.

But he wondered whether in today’s environment it was possible for the industry to take up this task and yet come up with their creative corporate leadership.

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