The Hindu Business Line : CCEA nod for Rs 1,718-cr automotive testing facility

THE Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved the setting up of a world-class automotive testing facility involving an investment of Rs 1,718 crore.

The National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP) would be set up under the Societies Act, the Heavy Industry Minister, Mr Santosh Mohan Dev, told reporters here.

"It would be a public-private partnership venture and would be implemented in two phases of three years each," Mr Dev said. Of the Rs 1,718 crore that would be needed for the facilities, the Government will give Rs 817 crore as grant and Rs 273 crore as loan. Around Rs 118 crore will come from user charges that would be paid by the industry. Another Rs 510 crore would come from auto cess.

There would be total of five such centres under NATRIP in the country. Two new full-fledged testing and homologation centres would come up with an investment of Rs 350 crore each at Orgadam SIPCOT Industrial estate near Chennai in Tamil Nadu and at Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) estate at Manesar.

The proposal includes upgradation of the two existing facilities at Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) in Pune and at Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) in Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. A globally comparable testing track will also be built on a 4,000-acre land in Madhya Pradesh.

A National Centre for Testing of Tractors and Off-road Vehicles along with national facility for accident data analysis and specialised driving training would come up at Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, and a National Specialised Hill Area Driving Training Centre and Regional In-Use Vehicle Management will be set up at Silchar in Assam, the Minister said.

"The project would also help harness India's capability in IT and electronics and combined with large public investment on road infrastructure, the automotive sector would emerge as the next sunrise sector for the national economy," Mr Dev said.

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