Government mulls a separate body for auto industry

Automotive sector has seen tremendous growth in India in past few years. This has made government keen to keep the momentum rolling as it has come forward with the idea of a separate body, dubbed the National Automotive Board (NAB) to act as a catalyst between the government and the industry. An official let the news out that final plan of National Automotive Board is being drawn up by the Department of Heavy Industry and is likely to be implemented and cleared by cabinet in a month. NAB might be practically up and running by April. The idea is to set up a body dedicatedly responsible for growth of research and development, develop skills for booming cars market and act as a think-tank for the government. The eco friendly electric and hybrid cars will be a major focus for NAB think-tank.

The body will consist of members from the Department of Heavy Industry, Planning Commission and various ministries, like Road Transport and Highways, Science and Technology, Environment and Forests and few scientists and industry representatives. Prior to NAB government showed participation in the industry's growth with a body called National Automotive Testing and RD Infrastructure Project (NATRIP). The objective of NATRIP was to set up new auto testing and RD centers and upgrade the existing ones. It undertook upgrading three existing automotive testing and RD centers- the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VRDE) at Ahmednagar, Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) at Pune and International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) at Manesar. And also set up four Greenfield centers at Chennai, Indore, Silchar and Rae Bareilly for automotive testing, homologation and RD. NATRIP successfully achieved its target and opened channels between government and automotive industry. National Automotive board is expected to further enrich their collaboration for benefit of the country.