GURGAON: The International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) is expanding beyond its traditional automotive testing and certification role, opening an indigenous agri-machinery testing facility at Manesar as the government simultaneously pushes electric mobility and farm mechanisation.The new facility was inaugurated on Thursday during ICAT’s 20th anniversary celebrations, which also hosted an industry dialogue on the Centre’s PM E-DRIVE scheme.The expansion effectively places ICAT at the intersection of two sectors undergoing a technology transition, automobiles and agricultural machinery.The facility is intended to provide testing and certification of agricultural equipment, helping ensure that machinery entering the market meets prescribed performance and safety requirements.ICAT’s move into the sector comes as mechanisation becomes increasingly important to agricultural productivity and the adoption of modern farm equipment.The Manesar-based testing agency has been one of the designated testing agencies under PM E-DRIVE, along with the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Global Automotive Research Centre (GARC) and National Automotive Test Tracks (NATRAX).The PM E-DRIVE dialogue brought together officials from the ministry of heavy idustries and other ministries, besides automobile industry representatives, to discuss the implementation and future direction of the electric mobility programme.The government’s PM E-DRIVE dashboard showed more than 9.5 lakh e-2Ws and e-3Ws/e-trucks registered or temporarily registered under the scheme as of September 20.The Centre has also been upgrading its testing infrastructure at Manesar under PM E-DRIVE.An ICAT tender had provided for augmentation of testing infrastructure at ICAT-Manesar, NATRAX-Indore and GARC-Chennai under the scheme.The new agri-machinery facility marks another expansion of ICAT’s mandate. Its existing capabilities include testing and certification of vehicles and engines, including tractor and construction-equipment engines.At the anniversary event, Union heavy industries and steel minister HD Kumaraswamy, minister of state Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma and senior officials from the ministry of heavy industries and other ministries participated along with representatives of the automobile industry.ICAT, which completed two decades of operations this year, has evolved from an automotive testing institution into a wider testing, certification and technology-support platform.The expansion into agricultural machinery signals an effort to leverage its testing capabilities across sectors rather than confining them to road vehicles.
