Simon India, IIT Dhanbad Partner to Develop Catalysts and Speciality Chemicals related Process Technologies for Scalable Green Solutions
Dhanbad, April 9: Simon India Limited (SIL) has entered into a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad to advance catalyst and process technologies aimed at enabling industrial-scale deployment of green and low-carbon solutions.
The engagement brings together IIT (ISM) Dhanbad’s research capabilities with Simon India’s engineering, project execution, and industrial deployment expertise, with a focus on translating research into scalable and commercially viable outcomes.
A key focus will be the joint development of advanced catalysts and process technologies, which are critical to improving efficiency, optimizing costs, and enabling large-scale adoption of sustainable solutions. These efforts will support applications such as green hydrogen, green ammonia, circular economy solutions, energy efficiency, sustainable aviation fuel, and biomass-to-value-added chemicals.
The scope also includes waste utilization, rare earth recovery, development of new fertilizer grades, and chemical derivatives, with an emphasis on scalable industrial processes.
The MoU provides a framework for joint research and development programs, pilot and demonstration projects, and collaborative grant initiatives, including cross-country proposals. It will also support capacity building through faculty–industry exchange, internships, industrial training, and mentorship programs, strengthening the pipeline of industry-ready talent.
In addition, the engagement will enable technology transfer, commercialization pathways, and intellectual property development aligned with industrial priorities and global competitiveness.
Both institutions will work through a coordinated approach to move from laboratory validation to engineering design and pilot-scale deployment, supported by joint project development and structured governance for effective implementation.
The initiative reflects a broader focus on strengthening industry-academia collaboration to accelerate the development and scale-up of sustainable, process-driven solutions in India
Mr. Athar Shahab, Chairman, Simon India Limited, said:
“India has a strong foundation in research, and there is a growing need to translate this into scalable industrial applications. This partnership brings together academic and engineering capabilities to support that transition across sustainable and emerging sectors.”
Mr. Aashutosh Aggarwal, CEO, Simon India Limited, added:
“This partnership allows us to focus on critical areas such as catalyst development and process innovation, which are central to advancing sustainable industrial solutions. At Simon India, our strength lies in engineering and scaling these innovations for industrial deployment, enabling efficient and commercially viable outcomes across green and low-carbon sectors.”
Emphasizing the importance of nurturing innovation at an early stage, Prof. Sukumar Mishra, Director, IIT ISM, Dhanbad, stated,
“Undergraduate students are the most important group. They are at a stage where their thinking can still be shaped. Exposure to real-world problems through industry interaction is essential for building meaningful innovation capacity, and the next generation must be trained not just to study technologies, but to build them.”
Dr. Fawzia Tarannum, Lead- Climate Tech and Sustainability, Simon India Limited, highlighted the systemic gap in innovation translation stating that,
“Our innovation journey often stops at publications. Unless research moves beyond papers into products and processes, its true value remains unrealized. We need integrated pathways where academia and industry co-create solutions from the outset.”
