Company signs MoU with NIFTEM to highlight importance of stainless steel in food processing sector
Kundli, February 18, 2022: In a major move to establish robust industry-academia collaboration and to bolster the government’s Skill India initiative, Jindal Stainless, India’s largest stainless steel producer, set up the ‘Jindal Stainless Gallery’ at National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), an apex institution under Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI). In an event organised at NIFTEM premises, Hon’ble Union Minister, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Shri Pashupati Kumar Paras inaugurated the gallery. Among other dignitaries present were Joint Secretary, MoFPI, Shri Minhaj Alam, IAS; SIO, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Shri Sanjay Gupta; Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Sonepat, Haryana, Shri Ramesh Kaushik; Deputy Commissioner, Sonipat, Shri Shantanu Sharma, and Vice Chancellor, NIFTEM, Dr Chindi Vasudevappa.
Managing Director, Jindal Stainless, Mr Abhyuday Jindal took note of this key initiative and said, “We are on a mission to set up an ecosystem that nurtures entrepreneurship in stainless steel applications. This collaboration with NIFTEM will educate young professionals in the food processing sector and promote usage of the most hygienic and sustainable metal in the F&B industry. With this initiative, we hope to establish national standards for stainless steel usage in the Indian food processing sector.”
Jindal Stainless also signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the institute to work towards skill development, entrepreneurship, and academic cooperation, while highlighting the importance of stainless steel in the food processing industry. The MoU was signed by Registrar, NIFTEM, Dr J S Rana and GM, Business Development, Jindal Stainless, Mr Rajeev Gupta.
The ‘Jindal Stainless Gallery’ has been conceptualised by Jindal Stainless to showcase various applications of stainless steel in the food processing industry including overhead water tanks, sinks, bread moulds and trolleys, driers, coconut cutting machines, chequered sheets, etc. As part of the signed MoU, Jindal Stainless and NIFTEM will collaborate on multiple fronts and take up research and training across various disciplines of food science, engineering, management and social sciences.
This partnership will also see the rollout of a course on stainless steel in NIFTEM’s curriculum to promote technical studies on stainless steel usage in food processing sector, develop food testing vans, organize joint technical sessions for mutual benefits, etc. Apart from this, the Company will also train fabricators and welders to better equip them in stainless steel handling. Given NIFTEM’s academic and technical excellence, this collaboration will also be helpful in charting a roadmap to achieve BIS standards for stainless steel usage in the food industry.
Owing to inherent advantages like hygiene, strength, corrosion resistance, safety, and recyclability, stainless steel is a key material for food processing industry. Major applications like rice mill processing, dairy, bread and meat processing, etc. extensively use stainless steel equipment. There is still ample scope in India to amplify usage of this hygienic metal in the processing of edibles to ensure food safety. Moreover there are no reference standards available for the metal’s use to develop food processing equipment. Collaboration with an institute of national importance will certainly play an important role in educating professionals and for a better coordination with the government to frame sector-specific policies and regulations.
