Since India’s independence the industrial sector has made tremendous progress. Notably the North-West region of the country, especially the Punjab became an industrial powerhouse. Expansion and diversification of existing companies and establishment of new ventures even accelerated in the 1990 following the opening of the nation by introducing a liberal economic policy. As a consequence of expanding markets modern manufacturing facilities were and are required. This is particularly true for enterprises manufacturing technical goods.
Growth and development of the engineering industries depend vitally on the availability of precision tools such as press tools, moulds, jigs & fixtures, and dies. Those high quality tools & die are manufactured on extremely precise and computer controlled machines, which are usually not within the reach of small-scale enterprises. Moreover, these units lack personnel with the respective expertise.
Provision of proper tooling, skilled technicians, and modern technology support call for high investments. Therefore, small-scale enterprises, who want to develop their business, have to rely on institutions offering such services. To serve these units, the Government of India established the Central Tool Room (CTR) in Ludhiana in 1980 with technical and financial support from the Government of Germany and the active support of the State Government of Punjab, which provided land and buildings.
CTR had been set up as “Government of India Society” under the Ministry of Industry (now: Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise ), Government of India. Governing Council constituted by the Ministry manages the affairs of the society. Governing Council members are from the Ministry of SSI, Govt. of India, the State Government of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and U.T. Chandigarh. Moreover, several representatives leading to the industrial associations of this regions.