The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved extension of the date of completion of the present timeline by three years that is from 31st December 2014 to 31st December 2017 of the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP). The extension of completion date will help the project to be completed as per the objectives of the project. This will ensure that state of the art automotive testing, homologation and R&D facilities are made available in India.
The project envisages setting up of the following facilities:
(i) A full-fledged testing and homologation center within the northern hub of automotive industry at Manesar in the State of Haryana.
(ii) A full-fledged testing and homologation center within the southern hub of automotive industry at a location near Chennai in the State of Tamil Nadu.
(iii) Up-gradation of existing testing and homologation facilities at Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Pune and at Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE), Ahmednagar.
(iv) World-class proving grounds or testing tracks on around 4,000 acres of land, including summer and winter pads, the locations of which would be decided with technical assistance from a reputed global consultant to be appointed on the basis of global tendering process.
(v) National Center for Testing of Tractors and Off-Road Vehicles together with national facility for accident data analysis and specialized driving training in northern part of the country at Rae Bareilly in the State of Uttar Pradesh.
(vi) National Specialized Hill Area Driving Training Center as also Regional In-Use vehicle management Center at Dholchora (Silchar) in the State of Assam.
Background:
The project envisages setting up of facilities at seven locations viz. Ahmednagar, Silchar, Raebareli, Pune, Manesar, Chennai and Indore. NATRIP faced hurdles at various stages of implementation on account of delays in acquisition of land at various sites, delays in clearances, shifting of utilities, contractual complications, foreign exchange variation etc.