 National
Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project
(NATRiP), the largest and one of the most significant
initiatives in Automotive sector so far, represents a
unique joining of hands between the Government of India,
a number of State Governments and Indian Automotive Industry
to create a state of the art Testing, Validation and R&D
infrastructure in the country.
The Project aims at creating core global competencies
in Automotive sector in India and facilitate seamless
integration of Indian Automotive industry with the world
as also to position the country prominently on the global
automotive map.
NATRiP envisages an investment of INR 17.18 Billion (about
USD 380 million) in setting up, inter alia, independent
automotive testing centres within the three automotive
hubs in the country, at Manesar in Northern India, Chennai
in Southern India and Pune & Ahmednagar in Western
India. A world class Proving Ground will be built at Indore
in Central India, on 4123 acres of land as a part of the
core NATRiP facilities. NATRiP also envisages the setting
up of comprehensive Testing and Validation facilities
including Field Tracks for Agricultural Tractors, Trailers,
Construction Equipments and various other off-road vehicles
at Rae Bareilly in Northern India. This centre will house
India`s first state of the art Road Accident Data Analysis
facility. Two specialised Driving Training Centres will
be set up at Silchar in North Eastern India (for specialised
Hill Area Driving) and Rae Bareilly in Northern India
(for specialised Vehicles and Cargo). A model Inspection
and Maintenance (I&M) Centre for vehicles will also
form part of NATRiP facilities at Silchar.
With the launch of NATRiP, India is set to provide a major
fillip to its fast growing Automotive industry and harness
India’s major strengths in the realm of Automotive Engineering,
Information Technology and Electronics by achieving a
high degree of convergence. The infrastructure under NATRiP
will offer wide spectrum of services for Product Development
and Validation, not only to the domestic industry, but
also to global Automotive fraternity. The objective is
to help India’s emergence amongst the strongest hubs for
product development in Global Automotive landscape.
NATRiP, as a key initiative of the Ministry of Heavy Industries
& Public Enterprises, aims to usher India into the
group of countries with fully developed automotive industry.
Indian Automotive Industry, with a turnover of USD 37
Billion (2005) is growing annually at a rate of 18-20%.
It contributes around 17% of national kitty of indirect
taxes and provides direct and indirect employment to more
than 13 million people (2004). Rapidly increasing mobility
needs of more than a billion Indians, coupled with growing
demand for quality Automotive products from India in the
International markets are driving scales, investments
and innovations in Indian Automotive environment. Indian
exports have touched USD 3.5 Billion and are growing annually
at a rate of 35-40%. However, this growth represents only
a fraction of the potential of the Indian Automotive industry.
A robust Automotive Testing Infrastructure has been identified
as the key driver for tapping this potential. NATRiP is
India’s response to this felt need.
The principal objectives of NATRiP, inter alia, include:
- Creation of critically needed Automotive Testing
and Validation infrastructure to enable the Government
to usher in global Vehicular Safety, Emission and
Performance standards
- Deepening of manufacturing in India by encouraging
larger value addition within the country
- Enhancing India’s global outreach by facilitating
development and mass production of high technology
driven, affordable and globally acceptable Automotive
products and by de-bottlenecking their exports
- Making available to Automotive Industry, within
India and outside, a battery of high capability Product
Development and Validation facilities for significantly
reducing Product Development and Modification Cycle
at affordable costs.
The initiative is in furtherance of the Government’s Auto
Policy, which, envisions establishing globally competitive
automotive industry in India and doubling its contribution
to the economy by 205% by (a) achieving high degree of
value addition in the country (b) conducing incessant
modernization of industry and facilitating design and
R&D, (c) developing safety and environmental standards
at par with global norms and (d) ensuring India’s emergence
as a global source for Auto Components and Automobiles.
The project envisages setting up of, inter-alia, the following
broad facilities:-
- A full-fledged testing and homologation centre within
the northern hub of automotive industry at Manesar
in the state of Haryana, 35 miles from the National
Capital
- A full-fledged testing and homologation centre within
the southern hub of automotive industry at Oragadam,
15 miles from Chennai, the state Capital of Tamil
Nadu
- Comprehensive upgradation of existing testing and
homologation facilities in the western hub at Automotive
Research Association of India (ARAI), Pune and at
Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE),
Ahmednagar in the state of Maharashtra
- A world-class Proving Ground on 4,098 acres of land
in Central India at Pithampur, 15 miles from Indore
in the state of Madhya Pradesh
- A Centre for Testing of Tractors and Off-Road Vehicles
in the Northern region of the country, with national
facility for accident data analysis and specialized
driving training at Rae Bareilly, about 60 miles from
Lucknow the state capital of Uttar Pradesh
- A Specialized Hill Area Driving Training Centre
and an In-Use Vehicle Management Centre in the North
Eastern region at Silchar in the state of Assam
The investment of Rs. 1718 crore will be funded jointly
by the Government and the Industry, over a period of 6
years. The first phase of NATRiP (first 3 years) will
focus on building Infrastructure and capabilities for
Testing and Validation to meet emerging requirements in
line with National Automotive Safety and Emission roadmaps.
In the subsequent phase (next 3 years), key ‘Centers of
Excellence’ will be set up to develop national capabilities
in frontier automotive technologies. Some of these ‘Centers
of Excellence’ will aim at achieving high degree of convergence
of India’s strengths in areas like Information Technology,
Electronics, Alternative Energy sources, etc.
All facilities under NATRiP will be commissioned in phases
to be completed by September 2011. |
NATRiP Implement'n Society 
