Rajkot Engineering Association (REA) is setting up Common Facility Center (CFC) for submersible pump makers to provide them testing as well as research & development support. Having resolved the sub-lease issue with Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) the project is likely to start in January next year.
The entire project was developed by The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) two years back and was handed over to the REA recently. REA and pump industry players had decided to set up a CFC project wherein R&D activity and pump testing work will be taken up for development of the pump industry.
Cost of the CFC project is around Rs 8 crore. Union department of micro, small & medium enterprises (MSME) has agreed to provide 90 per cent funding for the project under its cluster development policy. The remaining 10 per cent fund will be managed by pump industry players.
"We have collected our contribution of Rs 80 lakh from pump manufacturers. Now, we have to submit our presentation of the CFC project to MSME department in the New Delhi. We are preparing a detailed report and will submit it soon," said Jayesh Patel, director of REA Pump Testing and Research Centre.
He informed that after the completion all the formalities, the work on CFC project will start in January 2013 and would take a year to get completed.
The project was delayed for one year due to sub-lease transfer issue with GIDC. While members of the pump industry had envisioned an investment of Rs 80 lakh for the project, GIDC had charged them an additional Rs 30 lakh for transferring land on a sub-lease basis.
Patel said, "Now, the issue has been resolved. Moreover, for this, REA had agreed to offer 2,000 square meters of land in GIDC area, owned by it for the project. For this project, REA and the pump industry have formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) called 'REA Pump Testing and Research Centre'."