ATS to invest 220 crore to set up testing and homologation facilities at the newly launched Telangana Mobility Valley

Delhi-based Automotive Test Systems (ATS) is one of the first companies to confirm investing close to 220 crore in the newly unveiled Telangana Mobility Valley (TMV). The company inked an MOU with Government of Telangana and Cologne-based technical partner TUV Rheinland to set up an Automotive Technology Centre and Proving Ground at Meenapallekalan in Telangana.

ATS provides developmental trials- Durability tests, performance, and pre-homologation tests for Tier 1 component makers.  including leading passenger car OEMs such as Mahindra & Mahindra and E-Bus Maker Olectra.

TMV aims to facilitate companies across all segments of sustainable mobility including electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers for advanced cell chemistry development, hydrogen fuel cells, Tier 1 and Tier 2 component manufacturers and auto engineering and research and development (R&D) companies. These companies, and others like them, will rely on the ATS facilities for certification and testing and homologation of electric vehicles of all classes and certifying EV component makers who plan to set up their manufacturing facilities there.

ATS will be investing its 220 crore corpus to purchase 125 acres which Telangana Government has offered to the company at attractive rates.

ATS will be leveraging its capex to build the centre ground up which includes current and emerging technologies like EV, CAV and hydrogen fuel cells. The TMV test and homologation centre will also have various test tracks to evaluate vehicle dynamics and ADAS features and laboratories for battery testing, cells, vehicle components, electric motors, e-axles, hardware in loop (HIL) testing, software in loop (SIL), driver in loop (DIL) and vehicle in loop (VIL) simulators, said Ramanathan Srinivasan, Managing Director speaking exclusively to Autocar Professional.

“ATS, which currently has a turnover of 150 crore and houses a staff of more than 180 people spread across its four-four test facilities in Coimbatore, Chennai, Bangalore and Pune, was in discussion with the Government of Telangana for the last six months. Telangana ministry officials visited its multiple test centres across India and Cologne and the facilities at TÜV Rheinland, based on which the final decision was taken and culminated in the signing of the MOU.” Srinivasan said.

The MOU was signed in the presence of Telangana Industry Minister KT Rama Rao along with Dr. Mathias Schubert, Executive Vice President of Mobility, TUV Rheinland, Germany and Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary to the Government and Commissioner of Industrial Promotion.

Srinivasan added that ATS is in the process of setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which will also be supported by strategic investors who are already identified. The company is expected to close the arrangements to operationalise the facility in the next six months, he said.

Telangana's move to set up an independent testing facility also dovetails with the Union government waiving off the 252 percent custom duty on imported cars for testing in India. 

The custom duty waiver has made India the sixth country to successfully provide testing and certification to foreign cars brought into the country and the opening of new facilities will bolster the confidence of global car makers to shift their vehicle testing requirements to India and make the country competitive against the UK, Germany, China, Taiwan, Japan which have an upper hand in the vehicle testing space.