In efforts to bolster the long term automotive growth in the Indian market, the Govt has decided to setup a new specialized body that will primarily look into the sustainable development of the Indian auto industry. The soon -to-be-formed new body will be called the National Automotive Board (NAB) and is expected to be setup by April this year once the Cabinet clears the proposal. An official close to the development stated that currently the implementation of this new body is being finalized by the Ministry of Heavy Industries after which the Cabinet clearing will take place in a month.
The National Automotive Board (NAB) will be acting as a bridge between the Government and the automotive industries and also facilitate in promoting more research and development activities. It will also look into the activities dealing with promotion of the enhanced skills that will be necessary for the development of the auto sector in future. The NAB will be succeeding NATRIP, an automotive body formed on the similar lines of the NAB earlier to facilitate the implementation of various automotive projects and enhance capabilities of the different automotive testing centers across India.
The NATRIP was set up with the purpose of upgrading the 3 most important testing centres in India, the Vehicle Reseach and Development Establishment (VRDE) at Ahmednagar, Automotive Research Association of India ( ARAI) at Pune and International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) at Manesar. In addition to it, it also setup 4 greenfield centres in India at Chennai, Indore, Silchar and Rae Bareilly for automotive testing, homologation and R&D. The new body, NAB will comprise of key personnel from the Department of Heavy Industry, Planning Commission and from various ministries, including Road Transport and Highways, Science and Technology, Environment and Forests and scientists and industry representatives.
