Kamran Rizvi, Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) visited the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), the authorised test and certification agency for automotive under rule 126 of CMVR.  

ICAT is under the aegis of National Automotive Board (NAB) and as registered society under Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India. The test facilities at ICAT are capable of testing and certifying vehicles of all different categories starting from two-wheelers to heavy commercial vehicles.

In addition, different automotive components, systems and sub systems can also be validated, tested and certified by ICAT.

ICAT has also installed and commissioned state-of-the-art facilities for electric vehicles and related components. This includes like traction batteries, motor controllers, wiring harness, high power cables, e-motors etc. These facilities can cater to the requirements of homologation, performance and durability of the above mentioned components.

Rizvi also inaugurated newly installed Servo Hydraulic Actuators of different capacities at the Fatigue Test Lab in the presence of Dr Hanif Qureshi, JS (Auto), Shri Rajnesh Singh, Director (Auto) and Shri Saurabh Dalela, Director-ICAT. The MHI officials also witnessed a crash test during their visit to the Passive Safety Lab.

During the ICAT visit, the Secretary was given a detailed overview of the facilities and services including the future aspirations of ICAT. This was followed by a facility tour at both the centres of ICAT where all the test facilities were explained in detail by the respective lab experts. These facilities include:

Centre 1- Electrical & Electronics Lab, Component Test Lab, Fatigue Lab, Vehicle Test Lab, Engine Test Lab and CAD-CAE facility.

Centre 2- Tyre Test lab, Passive Safety Lab, Electromagnetic Compatibility Lab, Noise Vibration & Harshness Lab, Vehicle Evaluation Lab, Test Tracks and ICAT Convention Centre.

Rizvi opined that ICAT should have the vision to hand-hold the industry in adopting the upcoming automotive technologies like Autonomous Vehicles, Connected Vehicles, Hydrogen Technology, Software Solution & Services, Cybersecurity etc. He advised that all the future actions and road-map of ICAT shall be aligned with national goals related green energy generation, reducing carbon footprint and sustainable mobility.  He also advised that ICAT should work towards having a strong connect between industry, academia and research institutions in order to carry out meaningful research and development. He supported the idea that ICAT over a period of time should transform from test agency to an innovation & research institution.    

Rizvi lauded the efficient work environment at ICAT and also assured the support from MHI support towards setting up new facilities as may be required in future.