The Government today said that the National Automotive Testing and Research and Development Infrastructure Project (NATRIP) has proposed to set up a Global Automotive Research Centre at Chennai.
“The NATRIP envisages setting up full-fledged test facilities at Global Automotive Research Centre at Orgadam, Chennai at a total cost of Rs 618.83 crore,” the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Mr Praful Patel, said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
The centre is scheduled to be completed by December 2012.
The facility will have a full-spectrum of homologation and performance testing of automobiles ranging from two and three-wheelers to heavy commercial vehicles. Also, it will be a centre of excellence for passive safety, electromagnetic compatibility and infotronics, he said.
NATRIP, which is a project implementation body, was set up for the upgradation of three existing automotive testing and R&D centres — the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment at Ahmednagar, Automotive Research Association of India at Pune and International Centre for Automotive Technology at Manesar.