Road Map

The future belongs to the small car,and India will be the largest manufacturer of the same,” Ranojoy Mukerji,Advisor,Corporate Affairs,NATRIP (National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project) sees it bright and clear. In town to make an announcement about the JK TYRE Baja SAE India 2010 to be held from January 29 to 31 in Pithampur,Indore,Ranojoy steers the conversation to upcoming testing centres,a Formula SAE,the Automotive Mission Plan and more. “We’re developing around six testing centres and have made an Rs 1800 crore investment,” tells Ranojoy adding about the existing 13 tracks in Indore and that a high speed track in it will be ready by 2012. “The rest will be ready by 2011,” adds Ranojoy.

Now that the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) will come under NATRIP,Ranojoy informs that testing will take place via them. “There are about 124 tests conducted on a vehicle before it’s given an okay,” he says. Talking about safety standards,Ranojoy feels that ABS will be incorporated once the infrastructure to test it is in place. While the government is working on that,another project which is paying off is driver training centres,especially those in schools. “Right now it’s only in Delhi schools,and will more on to other cities,” he is hopeful.

In the meantime,SAE is back,and so are its real-world engineering design projects. The Baja,(pronounced as Baha),is modeled on a globally popular student competition Mini-Baja initiated by SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers),USA. Punjab ruled the competition last time with Sant Longwal Institute of Technology and Punjab Engineering College on the top. “As an essential part of automotive industry,it is imperative for us to promote technical education amongst the budding students and Baja is one unique initiative in this arena. Next year,we’re trying to rope in Formula SAE,” he says.