The Cabinet has received a proposal from the Department of Heavy Industries (DHI) regarding the inception of a new board that will facilitate liaison between the government and the auto industry of India. An official stated, "The proposed National Automotive Board (NAB) is likely to be taken up by the Cabinet by this month-end."
National Automotive Board (NAB) would emphasise on boosting sustainable development of the field by focussing on Research and Development (R&D) activities. It will also play a huge role in creating the skills for the sector. Moreover, it will also help the government create critical solutions pertaining to the industry, such development of hybrid and electric vehicles in India.
Members of this proposed body would consist of personnel from DHI, Planning Commission and a number of other ministries, such as Road Transport and Highways, Science and Technology, and Environment and Forests. Along with these, the board will also have scientists and industry representatives.
The proposed NAB will take over from the project implementation agency, National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP). According to the official, "NATRIP was formed to set up new auto testing and R&D centres along with upgrading the existing ones. Now, these centres have been established and some of them have been upgraded. Therefore, its role has been completed."
NATRIP had been established in order to improve the three testing and R&D centres in India, namely 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. Furthermore, it also needed to establish 4 greenfield facilities for automotive testing, homologation and R&D at cities like Chennai, Indore, Silchar and Rae Bareilly.
