Although the establishment of CMERI at Durgapur by the Government of India as one of the chain of laboratories under CSIR created the essential condition for indigenous R&D in diverse fields of engineering in the country, it was soon realized that thousands of industrial units spread throughout the sub-continent needed almost immediate solutions to their day-to-day shop floor problems. In view of the large size of the country and innumerable industrial establishments needing such solutions, the task was considered beyond the capacity of single reseach unit. This led to the conception of the Mechanical Engineering Research & Development Organization(MERADO) as a sister organization concentrating on problems related to the development needs of the small and medium scale industries. To effectively cater to such needs it was decided to provide regional centres at the focal points of industrial cencentration in different parts of the country.