The Union Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises (MoHI & PE), Mr. Anant G. Geete has recently inaugurated a world class test facility installed as a part of the National Automotive Testing and R&D infrastructure project (NATRiP) at International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), Manesar in Gurgaon district of Haryana. The ceremony was graced by Mr. Sanjay Bandhopadhyaya, CEO & Project Director, (NATRiP) and Mr.Dinesh Tyagi, Director, ICAT, Mr. R.K. Singh, JS in the Department of Heavy Industries.
Some of the facilities which have been completed under the NATRiP include Powertrain and Fatigue & Certification laboratories, Climate Vehicle Test Cell, CAD/CAE and Infotronics laboratories. The other facilities which will be up and running at the centre include NVH Lab, Vehicle dynamics lab, test track etc. Almost Rs. 930 crore has been invested into the Manesar centre and there are two facilities sprawling across 8 acres (32,376 sq.m) of land at ICAT Site-I and 46.29 acres (187,335 sq.m) at ICAT Site-II, which is located 7 kms away from Site-I.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Geete said, “NATRiP project was conceived in line with the vision of Automotive Mission Plan 2016. We anticipate that India will emerge as the destination of choice in the world for design and manufacture of automobiles and auto components with output reaching a level of US$ 145 billion accounting for more than 10% of the GDP and providing additional employment to 25 million people by 2016.”
He also maintained that with the establishment of the new facilities at Manesar, NATRIP has facilitated introduction of automotive safety, emission and performance standards in the country which are in tune with global standards and fast catching up to ensure seamless integration of Indian automotive industry with that of the global industry. He said it is gratifying to note that the infrastructure setup under the NATRiP such as the facilities at ICAT will significantly facilitate the auto industry by providing services for testing and development requirements, encompassing all the domains of automotive technology, to address the challenges of the current day and help identify best practices and standardize technologies for the future.
The Union Minister also expressed his optimism that the domestic automotive industry is emerging as the preferred choice of destination for automotive players across the globe. “With the ‘Make In India’ initiative by the PM, India today is on the drawing board of all the major global automotive manufacturers as the destination of future.”
During his presentation, Mr. Sanjay Bandhopadhyaya highlighted, “ICAT offers an opportunity to the OEMs to develop, test and validate the products and technologies which will help address the challenges faced by the auto industry in terms of stringent emission norms (upcoming BS-VI), depleting conventional energy resources and ever increasing customer expectations.”
Mr. Dinesh Thakur seconded the thoughts of the Union Minister by reiterating, “The automotive industry will see a seismic shift in its approach due to energy and CO2 concerns, interconnection and automation. This results in new requirements on drivetrains and transmissions with regard to efficiency, comfort, dynamics and safety, which in turn lead to a large variety of competing drive and transmission concepts and to a previously unknown wave of innovations for components and assemblies.”
Meanwhile, the Minister also announced the setting up of a National Automotive Board (NAB) which will encompass all the Seven NATRiP Centres spread across the country. A souvenir on NATRiP was also released on the occasion. While addressing the occasion, he also congratulated ICAT for successful installation and commissioning of various facilities under the NATRiP project catering to the current day and future requirements of the Indian automotive industry. He also wished that ICAT plays a pioneering role in helping the Indian Auto Industry achieve the expected growth and beyond and contribute towards realizing the Indian dream of being a global leader developing mobility solutions of future for all segments of the society.
It may be recalled that the NATRiP project, which was approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in July 2005, is a combined initiative of government of India and number of state governments to set up automotive testing facilities across the country that will be competent for testing proposed safety and emission regulations. The International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) was set up in 2006 and is the first of the new world class centres established under the NATRiP. With the establishment of the new facilities, NATRiP has helped realize this vision in the form of an ambitious project for setting up world-class automotive testing and R&D infrastructure in the country to deepen manufacturing, encourage localized R&D, boost exports and converge India’s unparalleled strengths in IT and electronics with automotive engineering sectors, to firmly place India in US$ six trillion global automotive business.
It was earlier noted that the Government of India has recognised ICAT as one of the accredited ‘Type Approval and Homologation’ agencies in India under Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR) 126 and has also been recognized as Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO) from Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), since Feb 2010, by BIS for Tyre Testing, Safety Glasses and by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for Emission and Noise testing of Generator Sets.