ARAI Chakan to test,homogolate and certify hydrogen vehicles

The testing agency will host India's first and largest clean energy vehicle testing facility, says Amit Vijay M

- Amit Vijay M

In response to the growing shift to hydrogen as a fuel, Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has decided to set up India's first full-fledged test centre that will give type approval for vehicles that will have hydrogen as the base fuel and its variants.

The facility will be set up at the ARAI-homologation and technology centre in Chakan, Pune. It will also mirror the OEM manufacturing line and also have storage facilities for hydrogen with latest fuel cell test benches which will be used to ensure both short-stack testing and large-stack testing.

"We are in the planning stage at the moment and once ready the budget will be sent to the Ministry for further sanctioning. The entire process should take us anything between 12-14 months," an official said.

Union Minister for Heavy Industry & Public Enterprises Mahendra Nath Pandey launched their indigenously developed 100 KW fast chargers and laid the foundation stone at the ARAI's Mobility Research Centre. Speaking to Autocar Professional he said: "The hydrogen testing facility will assist the domestic auto industry to get type approvals and speed up the launch of new products as were showcased in the Auto Expo 2023. Once we receive the proposal from ARAI, a decision on the same will be taken in due course."