Indian Coast Guard and Indian Rubber Materials Research Institute, an autonomous institute, under DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 05 Aug 2025 at Coast Guard HQs, New Delhi, for collaboration with an aim to promote indigenization of specialized marine rubber & composite products.

The MoU was signed by IG Sudhir Sahni, TM, DDG (Materiel & Maintenance), Indian Coast Guard and Dr. K Rajkumar, Director, IRMRI in the august presence of Joint Secretary, DPIIT, Shri Sanjiv. Indigenous prototype development, material analysis and testing of specialized rubber products for marine equipment/systems used onboard Coast Guard platforms are the major objectives of MoU.

IRMRI will work closely with ICG for exploring feasibility to develop rubber material spares that are presently imported. Moreover, the existing IRMRI facilities will be utilized for material analysis/ testing of rubber components/ products that are manufactured by Indian Industries for ICG as a certifying agency. ICG shall provide IRMRI with problem statements for indigenization of rubber products and IRMRI will develop Indian vendors, including start-up/MSMEs, incubated by ARISE, an incubation centre promoted by IRMRI. The MoU between the Indian Coast Guard and IRMRI is a significant step which symbolizes shared commitment for Nation building while developing indigenous solutions in specialized domain areas i.e Rubber Material.