National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP)

• Government has approved the revised cost estimate of Rs 3,727.30 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 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
• NATRiP project had envisaged seven centres – GARC (Global Automotive Research Center) Chennai, iCAT Manesar, NATRAX Indore, NCVRS Rae Bareilly, NIAIMT Silchar, VRDE Ahmednagar and ARAI Pune. At present, the capex for upgradation of two centres at VRDE Ahmednagar and at NIAIMT Silchar respectively have been completed..

Analysis:

• NATRiP, a flagship of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, is one of the largest and the most significant initiatives in the sector so far. The project aims to put in place automotive testing infrastructure that was supposed to meet safety and emission regulation requirements till 2015 and also deepen India’s automotive R&D capabilities.
• But project progress was not on optimal speed and it was bogged down by contractual and technical hurdles including acquisition of land at various sites, delays in clearances, shifting of utilities with incomplete testing centres and test tracks in addition to expensive test equipment lying unused at various locations.
• 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.
• It is also needed to support Automotive Mission Plan 2016-26 which sets the Indian automotive and component manufacturers for becoming globally competitive for export with aim to scale up exports to the extent of 35-40 per cent of its overall output over the next 10 years.
• The project is required to make Indian vehicles comply with global standard of safety in line with UN Brasilia resolution to reduce the high number of causalities and road accidents (i.e. 1.46 and 5.01 lakhs, respectively in the year 2015) and to help MSMEs for development and certification of auto-components, both for OEMs and after sale parts.
• 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.

By: Vishal