Union Minister Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Narayan Rane on Wednesday inaugurated new MSME Technology Centre, Imphal virtually at MSME Technology Centre Imphal, Food park Nilakuthi, Imphal East.
Deputy Director MSME Technology Imphal, Sinam Yoirentomba Meeitei said Ministry of Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India, under its flagship programme Technology Centres Systems Programme (TCSP) with the World Bank assistance, is establishing 15 new Technology Centres (Earlier known as Tool Room and Training Centers) at various parts of the country at an estimated project cost of Rs 2,200 crore.
MSME Technology Centre Imphal is one of these 15 new TCs. This Technology Centre will be first for the state of Manipur and the whole Northeast with a focus on Aromatic and Medicinal plants, and a target of becoming a Centre of Excellence in Aromatic and Medicinal Plants in North East India, he added.
The Foundation stone was laid by Kalraj Mishra, the then Union Minister of MSME, Government of India, in presence of Giriraj Singh, the then Minister of State MSME, Govt. of India, on April 9, 2016 with FFDC Kannauj to serve as mentor TC. The government of Manipur has allotted 5 acres of land at Food Park, Nilakuthi, Imphal East District, to establish the Centre, with a state-of-the-art infrastructure.
He further said overall, the Centre at Imphal will have administrative building, quality assessment laboratory, facilities for processing and value addition of medicinal plants and essential oils, training hall, hostel and herbal garden etc.
He added that the MSME TC Imphal is in advanced stage of establishment to provide end-to-end technical support: Agrotechnology – Market linkage with a focus on Medicinal and Aromatic plants (MAPs) for transforming job seekers into job givers utilizing locally available bioresources in the form of MAPs. Apart from this, the MSME TC Imphal will also work to serve, sustain and upgrade the status of farmers and industry engaged in the aromatic and medicinal plant cultivation, its processing and value addition so as to make them competitive both in the local and global market.
Yoirentomba said the centre will be focussing on the area of innovation and development centre, process and value addition, quality testing and assurance, packing and marketing, and training for cultivation, processing and marketing, entrepreneurship and others.
