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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved the implementation of National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP) in the country with a total investment of Rs. 1718 crore.
It also approved the initiative of the Department of Heavy Industry regarding the setting up and fully empowering the project implementation mechanism by way of NATRIP Implementation Society headed by the Secretary, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises with representatives of concerned Ministries, automotive industry and ARAI.
The CCEA authorized the Department of Heavy Industry to carry out modifications in project components and finalizing the location of the proving grounds based on the inputs provided by the Global Consultants without altering the basic structure of the project and within the overall project cost ceiling.
NATRIP envisages setting up of world-class automotive testing and homologation facilities in India at a total investment of Rs.1,718 crore in two phases of three years each, from the date of its launch. The main facilities will come up in the three automotive hubs of the country, in the south, the north and the west. The project principally aims at (i) creating critically needed automotive testing infrastructure to enable the Government in ushering in global vehicular safety, emission and performance standards, (ii) deepening manufacturing in India, promoting larger value addition leading to significant enhancement of employment potential and facilitating convergence of India’s strengths in IT and electronics with automotive engineering, (iii) enhancing India’s abysmally low global outreach in this sector by de-bottlenecking exports and (iv) removing the crippling absence of basic product testing, validation and development infrastructure for automotive industry.
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) Upgradation 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 Specialised Hill Area Driving Training Center as also Regional In-Use vehicle management Center at Dholchora (Silchar) in the State of Assam.
The investment of Rs.1,718 crore is proposed to be funded jointly by the Government and the Industry, based on recommendations of the Expenditure Finance Committee, in the following manner:
A. Plan Support by the Government
By way of grant : Rs. 817 crore
By way of loan : Rs. 273 crore B. Contriution from automotive Cess (collected from the auto industry) : Rs. 510 crore
C. User Charges to be paid by auto industry : Rs. 118 crore
Total Project Cost (A+B+C) : Rs. 1718 crore
NATRIP is aimed at addressing one of the most significant constraints of Indian automotive sector and is, therefore, likely to provide a major impetus to manufacturing in India, significantly unlocking employment potential in this sector. Some of the key benefits expected from the project, inter-alia, would be:-
a. availability of world class infrastructure to test vehicles and components against existing and emerging automotive standards expected to become mandatory till 2015, to significantly enhance vehicular safety, emissions and performance.
b. bolstering efforts of the Government to usher in global vehicular safety, emission and performance standards in India leading to modernization of industry.
c. convergence of India’s strengths in Information Technology and electronics with automotive engineering, to expand India’s global presence in this key sector.
d. deepening of automotive manufacturing in India, promoting larger value addition and thereby significantly enhancing employment generation in this sector.
e. enhancement of India’s abysmally low global outreach in this sector by de-bottlenecking exports and making them more competitive.
f. facilitation and promotion of larger R&D efforts within India by not only Indian automotive industry but also by global automobile and component manufacturers who are expected to take advantage of this pre-competitive R&D infrastructure.
g. significant enhancement in current fiscal contribution of this sector to the general exchequer.
h. bringing about large savings out of annual outflow of around Rs. 180 crore being currently spent to test the exportable vehicles at overseas facilities.
i. significant contribution towards the cause of India’s emergence as a global outsourcing base for automobiles and auto components in furtherance of Auto Policy.
YSR/DS/HS/LV
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