T-Works to be inaugurated by Foxconn chairman Young Liu

The soft launch of the facility happened eight months ago but the formal launch is scheduled for March 2.

Hyderabad: The hardware segment will get a mega push in the State with the now ready T-Works, India’s largest prototyping facility, which will be formally inaugurated on March 2.

Giving a preview of the newest State-supported facility, IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Wednesday said the facility would be inaugurated by Young Liu, chairman of Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), which makes electronic products for major American, Canadian, Chinese, Finnish and Japanese companies.

Liu is likely to have an interaction with Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao as well, Rama Rao said.

T-Works will accelerate India’s journey to become a leader in product innovation. The facility is an effort to create and celebrate the culture of hobbyists, makers and innovators. It will allow them to explore and experiment without the fear of failure. The facility will see an investment of Rs.110 crore, including about Rs.40 crore from the corporate sector. It has already deployed machinery worth about Rs.11.5 crore and over the next six months to one year, it will see the full Rs.110 crore investment.

The current facility is about 78,000 sq ft in Phase I. It will be expanded to 2,50,000 sqft, the Minister said, adding that T-Works would focus on product design, engineering, fabrication, sourcing, materials and other aspects.

“We want T-Works to be self-sufficient like T-Hub. We will evolve pay-per-use mechanisms. However, the price will be low. The effort is to lower entry barriers in the hardware segment. Satellite centres of T-Works will be set up in Nizamabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Siddipet, and Warangal where IT towers are being built or have been already built,” he said.

“The Government of India is not supporting us by giving us a National Institute of Design. Nevertheless, we will work to evolve a design ecosystem with T-Works. We have facilities to make new products and more machinery will be added,” Rama Rao said

The soft launch of the facility happened eight months ago but the formal launch is scheduled for March 2. He said the State government launched the current T-Hub in June last year, moving to this from a temporary premises earlier.

T-Works will have facilities for woodworking, welding, sheet metal machining, printed circuit board fabrication, pottery, finish shop, 3D printing and e-workstations. Many companies will join T-Works as corporate partners. A corporate programme, on the lines offered by T-Hub, is also in the offing. T-Works will provide all things needed for nurturing an idea into an enterprise including required equipment, software, advise, expertise, market access, funding. It will also do the handholding.

The centre will work to lower barriers for prototype development, create a community of volunteers, engineers, artists, designers, service providers. It will facilitate members to showcase products and skills. It will also aid in transition from prototyping to manufacturing through collaboration. “We will support successful ideas,” Rama Rao said, adding that effort is also being made to orient the school children on design thinking.

He said ideas can come from any segment of the society. He listed examples of biodegradable pots by a student Srija, farming tools that lessen the drudgery by Ashok Gorre, Lakshmi Asu Machine by Chintakindi Mallesham that have come from rural areas.

IT and Industries Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, Special Secretary (Investment Promotion and NRI Affairs) Dr E Vishnu Vardhan Reddy and T-Works CEO Sujai Karampuri were present.