Vedanta Spark partners MeitY-Nasscom CoE to drive tech-based innovation

Vedanta Spark, an accelerator and ventures programme by Vedanta Group to promote tech start-ups, announced its collaboration with the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) and Nasscom’s centre of excellence (CoE) - IoT & AI, to accelerate  adoption of digital technologies led innovations. 

This partnership will explore the potential application of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), internet of things (IoT), and augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), among others, across different verticals of Vedanta Group. 

Vedanta Spark was launched on 30 October 2020, and in June 2021, with the aim to build technological capabilities by partnering with startups to help them achieve business transformation and growth. The initiative led by Anil Agarwal-led firm has already engaged 80 start-ups for more than 120 projects so far. For example, in July 2022, Vedanta has teamed up with Detect Technologies, an IIT Madras-incubated startup, to implement a safety incident detection system, an AI-based system across all its business units. 

The Nasscom CoE is known for its successful technology enablement accelerating the innovation requirements of large and mid-sized businesses in the fields of healthcare and well-being, process, manufacturing, and more. 

The collaboration with Nasscom CoE will also help the team at Vedanta Spark to optimise enterprise-level initiatives and processes. There is a vast pool of innovative companies through CoE that specialise in cloud infra optimisation, UAV-based solutions, data-based predictive approaches, and solutions capable of addressing specific problem statements related to enterprise concerns in real time. 

“Digital-first and innovation-led approach has become a top priority for businesses today. Our partnership with Vedanta Spark is aimed at unlocking a new wave of innovation and business growth to address both the present and future needs of the customer. The partnership will support the development of cutting-edge technologies that will lead to interesting use cases across the mining, oil and gas sector,” Sanjeev Malhotra, CEO, MeitY-Nasscom CoE, said in a statement. 

Vedanta Limited, earlier known as Sterlite Industries, has emerged as a prominent player since its inception in 1976, with a key focus on the natural resources industry. While Vedanta made its presence felt in various countries, including the UK, Africa, UAE, Australia, apart from India in metals and minerals and has also forayed into power generation and oil, in the last 12-18 months, the company has expanded its footprint into semiconductors and glass, with a presence in South Korea and Taiwan last year. 

In February last year, industrialist Anil Agarwal-led mining company Vedanta group and Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) had entered into a pact to form a joint venture (JV) company - Vedanta-Foxconn Semiconductors Limited — to manufacture semiconductors in India. In September last year, the companies signed an MoU with the Gujarat government to invest ₹1,54,000 crore to set up India's first semiconductor plant in Gujarat, and said that the facility would create one lakh job opportunities. 

The JV has also brought on David Reed as the CEO of Vedanta Foxconn Semiconductors Limited. Reed, an industry veteran with over three decades of experience, previously worked with Dutch chip firm, NXP Semiconductors, and GlobalFoundries. The company has also roped in Terry Daly, an IBM veteran and former senior vice president at GlobalFoundries, as an advisor for its semiconductor business.