Bhubaneswar, June 30: The Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET), a central government undertaking, has signed an MoU with the Orissa government for the capacity building of its institutes in Balasore and Bhubaneswar.

Earlier, the institute had inked an MoU with the Orissa government for leasing out land for 20 years. Now, the lease period will be extended to 99 years.

With this, the institute will be in a position to expand its technical activities for its growth, which in a way can culminate in generating the technically trained and skilled manpower for plastics and allied industries in the eastern region.

A dedicated and specialised centre, Advances Plastic Processing Technology Centre (APPTC), has been established in Balasore with a focus on advanced plastic-processing technology to cater to the training and technology support service in the eastern region. The construction works of the centre is in progress and a postgraduate diploma in plastics processing and testing will commence from the current academic year.

For conducting the conventional diploma programmes and Orissa government-sponsored special training programme, the institute is operating a master craft training institute in Bhubaneswar.

The institute has invested civil and technical infrastructure by installation of the state-of-the-art machinery, lab equipment, computer system and software. At the institute campus-II (MCTI campus), various long-term courses, diploma, postdiploma and postgraduate diploma are being conducted in addition to different Orissa government-sponsored IT training programmes.

The institute has so far trained 131 instructors of different government-run industrial training institutes under the centre of excellence scheme.

Moreover, it imparts training to the youths belonging to SC, ST and minority communities, visually challenged, manual scavengers and other economically vulnerable sections. As a part of the corporate social responsibility programme, the institute has trained 740 SC and ST youths, 150 minority youths, 23 visually challenged, 26 manual scavengers, 76 unemployed youths belonging to the below poverty line families and 320 other backward classes and socially and educationally backward classes candidates. The institute has imparted training in different networking, computer proficiencies sponsored by various central and state government organisations.