Sridhar Vembu, the CEO of Indian multinational technology company Zoho made an announcement here in Covai that the company will invest Rs 50 to Rs. 100 crore and form a separate company that will focus on research and development in the manufacturing sector.
A press release mentioned that the company would have local industries as partners who would bring in matching investment. A centre would be set up in about three months and it would look at research and development in eight major sectors such as motors, machine tools, textiles, and battery technology.
“We will have a laboratory that will work closely with industries here. We (Zoho) will bring capital and know how. This will be a separate company with investment from Zoho,” he said. The laboratory would focus on issues that the industry faced and take up research in areas of mechanical, electrical and electronics, the press release said.
The aim is to bring in import substitution with high technology developed locally for the domestic manufacturing industries and also bring in automation through the centre, he said. “We need to develop the critical know-how for the industries. It will make this region and the State a high wage economy,” Sridhar Vembu added.