The Hindu : Business : Auto testing centres plan approved

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 26, 2005

Business

Business

Auto testing centres plan approved

Special Correspondent

Rs. 625-crore for integrated textile parks in 25 locations across the country

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet's Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Monday decided to launch a Rs. 1,718-crore project to upgrade the facilities for testing and research and development in the automobile sector and a Rs. 625-crore scheme to set up integrated textile parks in 25 locations across the country.

The project for the automobile sector would include establishment of new testing and homologation centres near Chennai and at Manesar in Haryana and upgradation of the Automotive Research Association of India in Pune and Vehicles Research and Development Establishment in Ahmednagar.

In addition, it would seek to set up a national centre for testing of tractors and off-road vehicles, together with a national facility for accident data analysis and specialised driver training at Raebareily in Uttar Pradesh and a national specialised hill area driver training centre as also a regional in-use vehicle management centre at Silchar in Assam.

The Government would provide Rs. 817 crore as grant and Rs. 273 crore as loan for the project. The balance would be raised as cess from the automobile industry (Rs. 510 crore) and user charges (Rs. 118 crore). The project would be implemented in two phases of three years each. It is expected to bring about large savings in the foreign exchange spent on testing exportable vehicles at overseas facilities and also attract foreign exchange inflows by providing a competitive platform for manufacturers abroad to test their vehicles here. The industry is now estimated to spend Rs. 180 crore annually for testing exportable vehicles abroad.

As regards the scheme for integrated textile parks, each park would have at least 50 units covering the entire chain of the industry, from weaving and knitting to processing and garment manufacture. The locations for the parks would be identified after a demand and potentiality study by an independent agency. They would be set up over the next two years.

The Union Cabinet also decided to sign and ratify a bilateral investment promotion and protect agreement with Senegal. Such pacts have already been signed with 57 countries.

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