Cabinet approves Revised Cost Estimate for NATRIP Project

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the revised cost estimate for Rs. 3727.30 crore for the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP). This approval ensures completion of the projects under NATRIP which is an important Initiative by the Government of India for the establishment of the global test centres in India. This will address the R&D requirements of the automotive industry, full-fledged testing and homologation centres. The places are within the Northern auto-cluster at ICAT-Manesar, Haryana and Southern auto-cluster at GARC-Oragadam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu and up-gradation of existing centers at ARAI- Pune and VRDE-Ahmednagar in Maharashtra for Western auto-cluster. The NATRIP project is required: • To adopt global best practices to ensure road safety, environmental protection etc. in design, manufacture, testing and operation of motor vehicles in India since India is signatory to UN Regulation on Harmonisation of Vehicle Specifications under WP-29 of 1998. • To support Automotive Mission Plan 2016-26 sets the Indian automotive & component manufacturers for becoming globally competitive for export with aim to scale up exports to the extent of 35-40% of its overall output over the next 10 years • To make Indian vehicles comply with global standard of safety (in line with UN Brasilia resolution) to reduce the high number of casualities and road accidents (i.e. 1.46 and 5.01 lakhs respectively in the year 2015). • To help the MSMEs for development and certification of auto-components, both for OEMs and after sale parts. The essential components include world class labs for Powertrain, Passive Safety Tests l (including crash tests), Tracks for proving technology (including the High Speed Track at Indore), fatigue and certification, Electro-magnetic Compatibility tests, Noise Vibration & Harshness tests, CAD & CME and Infotronics. Many of the labs are already operational. These infrastructure will also enable the vehicle and component manufacturers to develop and get certificates in the country, for automotive products which confirm to the world standards thus implementing the ‘Make in India’ objective. The following is the summary of the automotive client base and services offered, in order to make NATRiP centres locally and globally competitive and to make them fully integrated with the established Auto Hubs so that Indian industry is world class and export competitive by giving impetus to the “Make in India” program as well. (a) Categories of customers served: Four wheeler manufacturers/Commercial vehicle manufacturers/ Three wheeler Manufacturers/ Two wheeler Manufacturers/Construction equipment vehicle manufacturers/ Agriculture equipment (Tractors) manufacturers/E-Rickshaw manufacturers/ Bus body Manufacturers/ CNG-LPG kit retrofitters/Automotive & Non-Automotive engine Manufacturers/DG set manufacturers/Automotive Component Manufacturers. (b) Services offered: i. Certification of various vehicle categories, including HEV/EV/Diesel/Gasoline/CNG/LPG etc. as per CMVR-1989. ii. Certification of notified components of vehicle as per CMVR-1989 and related IS/AIS. iii.Export certification for vehicles and components for Europe/South Africa/Malaysia/ Indonesia/Brazil etc. for Indian manufacturers, in collaboration with other authorized agencies. iv. Developmental testing for the automotive industry, OEMs and components both, for their product development needs. v. Execution of specific product development projects for the automotive industry. vi. Developmental vehicle/fleet testing, performance evaluation and endurance testing. vii. Technology development and R&D projects viii.Data collection for new regulations framing.