<span style="color: #222222;">Coir Board today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, to establish a Centre of Excellence for Coir Applications. Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises said, the Centre of Excellence aims at furthering the research work done so far in the coir sector with the support of IIT, Madras. It will also support the development of relevant technology and evolve standards for production and processing through specific projects and monitor research projects.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"><br />''Coir Board will provide a financial assistance of five crore rupees initially for a period of two years for the establishment and running of the Centre of Excellence. In all, 27 areas of Research and Development have been identified for the coir industry which will be taken up by this Centre of Excellence.</span><br />