The Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, inaugurated on Monday the National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC) in the Discovery Campus at IIT, Madras, to bolster Make in India technology solutions. The NTCPWC will have world-class multifunctional maritime laboratories to work on marine robotics, climate change, innovative modelling and simulation, and marine informatics and analytics. In addition, a maritime innovation hub will also be set up there to be the centre of India’s startups and innovation ecosystem.
Established under the Sagarmala programme for ₹77 crores, the centre will work towards achieving the vision of Aatmanirbharta in maritime. The Discovery Campus, located at Thaiyur, was set up in February 2018 on 163-acre land owned by IIT Madras, around 36 kilometres from the main campus at Guindy.
The NTCPWC researchers displayed the shallow wave basin equipment and offered an overview of the special projects undertaken at this research facility to the Union Minister. Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, and other officials were also present. Over 100 projects worth ₹200 crores have been built and operationalised at major ports, waterways, state maritime boards, atomic energy, ALHW, Navy and many other PSUs and State agencies. These products provided tangible benefits and cost savings of over ₹1,500 crores.
The NTCPWC has commissioned a giant 360 degrees projection-based Full Mission Ship Handling Simulator to perform complex navigation feasibility studies for port development projects and inland waterways.
