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India to set up National Automotive Board by April

A specialized body for promoting sustainable development of the Indian auto sector, dubbed the National Automotive Board, is likely to be set up by April.

An official said that "The proposed National Automotive Board, which is being finalized by the Department of Heavy Industry, is likely to be cleared by the Cabinet in a month.”

The official added that it will act as a facilitator between the government and the industry, promote research and development activities and have a larger role in developing skills for the growing automobile sector.

Besides, it would act as a think-tank for the government, especially for the growth of hybrid and electric vehicles in the country.

The board will have members from the Department of Heavy Industry, Planning Commission and from various ministries, including Road Transport and Highways, Science and Technology, Environment and Forests. Besides, there would be scientists and industry representatives on the board.

The board will be the successor of the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project which is a project implementation body.

The official said that "NATRIP was formed to set up new auto testing and R&D centers along with upgrading the existing ones. Now, these centers have been established and some of them have been upgraded. Therefore, its role has been completed.”

NATRIP was set up for upgradation of three existing automotive testing and R&D centers the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment at Ahmednagar, Automotive Research Association of India at Pune and International Centre for Automotive Technology at Manesar.

In addition, NATRIP's mandate was to set up four Greenfield centers at Chennai, Indore, Silchar and Rae Bareilly for automotive testing, homologation and R&D.