CENTRAL INLAND & COASTAL MARITIME TECHNOLOGY (CICMT), IIT KHARAGPUR

About: 

• Objective: To address the need for applied research and development for the inland waterways sector. 
  
  
• Mandate: The centre will be a hub for latest technology tools for maritime sector. It will provide technological support, research, testing and experimentation facility to the Ministry of Shipping and its subordinate offices such as Inland Waterways of India, Cochin Shipyard Limited and major ports. 
  
  
• This Centre will focus on following domain areas: 
  • Ship Design for Coastal/Inland waterways 
    
    
  • Shipbuilding Technology and Structural Design 
    
    
  • Transport Systems & Logistics 
    
    
  • Cryogenic Cargo Handling 
    
    
  • Green/Renewable Energy harvesting from Coastal and Inland waters 
    
    
  • Automation and AI for Maritime Operations 
    
    
  
  
  
• Parent programme: It has been setup under Sagarmala programme. 
  
  
• Funding: 
  • CICMT is being fully funded under unique and innovative projects under Sagarmala. 
    
    
  • The cost of the project is Rs. 69 crores. 
    
    
  • The funding for CICMT is for 5 years only and once the facility is functional, revenues generated from the end users will make it sustainable. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Significance: 
  • The centre will reduce India’s dependence on foreign institutions. At the moment there is no testing and experimentation facility available in the country for inland and coastal vessels for which the shipbuilders have to approach various European countries. 
    
    
  • It will also reduce the cost of research drastically and result in cost and time savings for work in the Port and Maritime sector.