IIT Madras, FaMe TN Join Hands to Accelerate AI-Led Digital Transformation of MSMEs in Tamil Nadu
Chennai, July 29 (TNT): The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) and the Bureau for Facilitating MSMEs of Tamil Nadu (FaMe TN) have partnered to accelerate digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and capability building across Tamil Nadu’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector.
The collaboration, led by the Centre of Tech Excellence at IIT Madras with support from a CSR grant by Walmart Global Tech, aims to promote affordable and indigenous digital solutions for MSMEs operating in manufacturing, retail and allied sectors, the Institute said in a release here on Wednesday.
The two organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to implement the initiative.
As part of the partnership, IIT Madras and FaMe TN will develop a State-level MSME Digital Readiness and Adoption Index to assess the digital maturity of enterprises and support evidence-based policymaking.
The initiative will also facilitate AI adoption, digital transformation and Industry 4.0 implementation through digital readiness assessments, capacity-building programmes, technology demonstrations and implementation support.
The collaboration also seeks to develop, transfer and deploy indigenous digital technologies while creating a Government-Academia-Industry innovation ecosystem anchored at the Centre of Tech Excellence, IIT Madras.
Professor Raghunathan Rengaswamy of IIT Madras said the partnership would focus on integrating AI-enabled workflows, shop-floor digitisation and Industry 4.0 tools into the day-to-day operations of MSMEs.
He said the initiative aims to enhance productivity, improve product quality and strengthen the global competitiveness of manufacturing units through practical, field-deployable technologies.
Under the initiative, MSMEs will receive support to adopt affordable digital solutions tailored to Tamil Nadu’s industrial ecosystem.
Entrepreneurs, supervisors and shop-floor workers will also benefit from continuous training, digital laboratories and masterclasses, while cluster-level diagnostics and applied research will help develop solutions suited to local operational challenges.
FaMe TN General Manager V. S. Venkatesan said the partnership would initially focus on field-level digital readiness assessments, pilot projects using IIT Madras-developed tools, and creation of training resources and case studies.
He said AI-driven anomaly detection, production analytics dashboards and smart quality inspection systems are expected to help MSMEs address issues such as inconsistent product quality, manual documentation and unplanned machine downtime.
The partners said the long-term objective is to scale digital adoption across thousands of MSMEs in Tamil Nadu through cluster-level interventions and measurable outcomes under a collaborative Government-Academia-Industry model.
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