Auto body lines up Rs 100 crore for vehicle testing facilities in Gujarat

The Western India Automobile Association (WIAA) -- Castrol Institute of Motoring, an organisation authorised under the Motor Vehicles Act to undertake driving tests for issuing driving licences for cars and two- wheelers, is planning to invest around Rs 100 crore to set up five vehicle testing facilities across Gujarat.

To be set up in a joint venture between WIAA and the Department of Transport and Directorate of Employment & Training, Gujarat government, the facilities will come up over an area of five acres. The government will soon identify land in different parts of the state. WIAA would fund the project through its own corpus.

The automobile association will provide technology inputs like check-up and replacement of lamps and headlights of vehicles for which it has tied up with Lucas-TVS and Lumax Industries Ltd.

A member of the Alliance Internationale de Tourisme (AIT), WIAA has sought the government's help in procuring personnel, following which a traffic policeman, an RTO officer and a constable will be deployed at the centres.

The centres will also have facilities like variable speed control device to restrain drivers from speeding on highways and accident-prone zones. Provision of PUC (Pollution Unit Control) will also be provided at these centres, said Srinivas Desai, branch head, Gujarat, WIAA.

The automobile association comes under the Federation India Automobile Association (FIAA), an automobile governing body with five more associations in India.

It has been conducting training classes for drivers of the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) and Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS). It also runs specialised courses like hazardous goods travel training course, simulator driver training for truck drivers and others.