Mumbai: PM Modi virtually inaugurates new IIT-B research park

The hall of the new research park building

Nearly a decade since its establishment, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay's (IIT-B) research park saw the inauguration of its permanent home. The foundation building of IIT-B's new research park was virtually inaugurated on Tuesday afternoon by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with several other educational infrastructures across the country. Senior BJP leader and MP from Mumbai North-East, Manoj Kotak, attended the physical inauguration event.

About the research park

Following the success story of the IIT Madras Research Park, the Ministry of Education (formerly the Ministry of Human Resource Development) decided to fund research parks at IIT Kharagpur and IIT-B. The institute in Mumbai had submitted its proposal in 2013, which was approved in 2014, and operations commenced in May 2015. Known as ASPIRE, the IIT-B Research Park Foundation (IITBRPF), is a non-profit entity aimed at accelerating innovation and research to achieve impactful outcomes. ASPIRE began attracting companies in February 2017, and currently, the research park hosts 43 associate and client member companies.

MP Manoj Kotak (centre) lighting the lamp for the inauguration event

From 2017 to 2023, some companies had physical offices on campus, while others engaged virtually. The research park team arranged an interim arrangement allowing ten companies to co-locate and commence work on campus. These companies include Applied Materials, Ubisoft India Studios, Everest Construction, NanoSniff Technologies, and several startups. Additionally, 33 companies collaborate virtually.

The park facilitates collaborations between faculties and companies based on mutual interests, with a strong focus on fields like healthcare, quantum computing, e-mobility, and carbon capture. Many faculty members are engaged in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), data science, energy, cyber security, and sustainability, with significant involvement in AI and machine learning (ML). With the research park now settled in its permanent home, the institute anticipates the number of companies to increase to 75-80. The goal is to foster more industry-academia collaborations in research and development and provide internships for IIT-B's BTech and MTech students.

Inauguration highlights

On Tuesday, PM Modi virtually inaugurated educational infrastructures worth over Rs 13,000 crore at 83 locations. These include the permanent campuses of 10 new IITs, three new IIMs (Indian Institute on Management), 12 central universities, 25 Kendriya Vidyalayas, 14 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, and two skilling institutes. He also laid the foundation stones for five Kendriya Vidyalaya campuses, one Navodaya Vidyalaya campus, and five multipurpose halls for Navodaya Vidyalayas nationwide. Furthermore, Modi inaugurated the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Vijaypur (Samba) in Jammu. Established under the central sector scheme - Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana - the institute spans over 227 acres and is equipped with 720 beds, a medical college, a nursing college, and an AYUSH block.