Kanaoka (third from left), founder and representative director, Jinki-Ittai, Japan; U. Subba Rao (fourth from left), General Manager, ICF-Chennai; and N. Ramesh Kumar (left), MD and CEO, RIR Power Electronics, Mumbai, visiting a stall after inaugurating the 21st edition of INTEC-2026, an International machine tools and industrial trade fair at CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex in Coimbatore on Thursday.

| Photo Credit: M. Periasamy

Japan-based robotics startup Jinki-Ittai is looking for partners in India to manufacture its human-operated robots.Kanaoka, president of Jinki-Ittai (Man-Machine Synergy Effectors, Inc), who inaugurated the 21st edition of industrial machinery exhibition ‘INTEC-2026’, organised by Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) in Coimbatore on Thursday (June 4), told The Hindu that it has patents for all its technologies.The startup, valued at about ₹179 crore (three billion Japanese yen), is looking to promote use of its robots on subscription basis. “We are expensive. So, we make special business models that will make is easy for users. We have subscription model so that the robots can be used the way we use our mobile phones,” he said.“We have partners in Japan who make robots for the Japanese market. We are looking for similar partners in India too,” he added. The Jinki-Ittai robots are used in Japan for maintenance of railway lines and so on. “These robots are targeted for application in areas where human lives are at risk,” he said. The startup is specifically exploring opportunities in India in foundries and railways.U. Subba Rao, General Manager of Integral Coach Factory, (ICF-Chennai), said there are plans to invest ₹500 crore in the next two years in robotic welding automation to make coach shells. The ICF-Chennai produces 3,000-3,500 coaches annually. He urged Indian industries to strive to be globally competitive and supply markets “that matter”, such as the U.S. and the E.U.According to N. Ramesh Kumar, managing director and chief executive officer of RIR Power Electronics, the company is investing almost ₹600 crore in Odisha to make Silicon Carbide devices. The devices used in small power plants now are largely imported from China, he said.Chairperson of Intec 2026, E.K. Ponnuswamy, said the five-day event at CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex has more than 700 stalls spread across 2.65 sq.ft. and has almost 465 exhibitors. The focus this year is on robotics, AI, IoT and so on. Published - June 04, 2026 07:05 pm IST