Interview with Dinesh Tyagi, Director, International Centre for Automotive Technology (iCAT)

Company Description: International Centre for Automotive Technology (iCAT), Manesar is an automotive testing and R&D centre strategically located at Manesar, Gurgaon –one of the flourishing business hubs in North India. iCAT is the part of NATRiP Implementation Society (NATIS), an independent registered society and an apex body for implementation of National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP), Govt. of India in the Northern region. iCAT is a notified testing agency and is working towards the development of automobile industry in the country. Its mission is to assist industry in adopting cutting edge technology in component and vehicle development, adopt world class work practices in technology services and innovation, build technical expertise driven by teamwork and commitment, strive to deliver quality services for total customer satisfaction and be a front runner in establishing global standards in the field of automotive testing and R&D. Inside its campus, following facilities are being provided- Active & Passive Safety, Component Evaluation & Fatigue Materials, EMI / EMC, Noise Vibration Harshness, Powertrain Vehicle Evaluation Facilities & Homologation Test Track.

You have been a 30-year veteran in the Indian automotive industry, having worked with numerous organisations like DCM Toyota, Daewoo Motors, Piaggio 2W, Rico Auto and General Motors India in the past. What really motivated you to be part of iCAT? And how do you really gauge things that have unfolded under your directorship?

My past experiences in this industry have been in the capacity of the Head of Product Engineering department. So this is more like a head of a function. I was looking for a bigger role and I got this opportunity with iCAT to head the whole organisation. That was a big motivator. Besides that, another reason which was personal was that I wanted to move to the northern part of India. My last stint was in Gujarat (Western part of India). So it was a combination of two different motivators. I believe there is a big transformation at iCAT ever since I joined this organisation in 2009. A lot of credit goes to the kind of vision I had for this centre and I was also fortunate to have a good team which supported my vision very efficiently to translate into reality. Since I was roped in by iCAT, the revenues jumped fourfold to nearly

42 crore and the employee strength was augmented two and a half times to 175. More infrastructure has been set up inside this campus and I am also been additionally given the post of Director (Technical) for the NATRiP project. That project is also taking shape, albeit slowly. This year we are very hopeful that these new facilities come up under the NATRiP. Our facilities are designed to cater to multiple products like LCVs, HCV, MCVs, SUVs, MPVs, construction equipment, tractors, two-wheelers et al.

When are the Centres of Excellence (COE) on component development and NVH getting established? And what are your expectations from such centres?

Let’s take them one by one. COE on component development will involve facilities like CAD, CAE, prototyping, validation, testing, and releasing newly-validated designs to the customers. The facility aims to provide end-to-end solutions for components and systems. We are now in the process of establishing CAD and CAE facilities and I expect them to be ready by September’13. Even though we will be installing equipment and software, we have to factor in human capabilities as another angle. To develop a hands-on experience is really time-consuming for the whole process. Infact, it’s a never-ending process as we have to develop the whole capabilities in terms of accuracy. On the component development front, we have many facilities for validation even today. Moreover, we will be establishing a fatigue lab under the NATRiP project. So the validation part can be augmented further. Another aspect is prototyping for which we have established a Rapid Prototyping Facility (RPF) and will be establishing many more machines by this year which can facilitate metalworking. By next year, we should be in a position to take up some turnkey projects. NVH is a separate COE which is a bit delayed. We have awarded the contract to ICE, UK to set up the facility for us and we are in the process of awarding the civil contract for the same. By 2014-end, the NVH lab should be up and running. Having said that, it takes another two-three years to actually build capabilities (for a particular centre) before we can actually render value-added services to our clients.

It’s a known fact that iCAT has been awarded a handful of new projects like compressed air engine development and dynamic headlamp system. When will you be executing them and what kind of benefits does the automotive industry accrue out of them?

The new projects that you have talked about are under execution. It’s a two-year project and we will be able to deliver it by the end of 2014. Compressed air engine development as a prime mover power is an old concept. But somehow it has not been put into extensive usage due to limitations on the sizes of the cylinders and the kind of pressures it can carry. There are some technologies developed in France but will have not seen such air-powered products on the Indian roads. So the projects that we are trying to do are aiming at indigenous technology. I believe that Tata has earmarked US$ 300 million to bring such technology (for the air-powered cars) to India. We are trying to develop a similar technology which is simple, indigenous, and unique and will increase the energy efficiency of the products.  We should be finishing this project by 2014-end. As far as dynamic headlamp system is concerned, it is aimed at dynamically shifting the focus thus avoiding glare to the oncoming vehicle. It helps in reducing accidents at night time. This system should be taking shape by 2014.

A committee headed by you submitted its report to the Ministry Of Road Transport and highways for forming a policy on quadricycles. Can you please share your viewpoints on the same?

A report was submitted on 30th of April. As you know, there has been a lot of talk about quadricycles.  The subject is not new as the idea for such products has been mooted way back in early 2002. There have been a lot of discussions and debates during that time. TVS and Tata Motors were a few companies that wanted to bring in a product under such a policy. The idea was to have a product which is not a regular four-wheeler, but superior to a three-wheeler. The idea was to have a product on four wheels which is safer than a three-wheeler and is meant for affordable mass transportation. At the same time, it should not be having the similar standards of a four-wheeler. During the early part of the previous decade, there wasn’t any consensus as people saw this product as a back-door entry into the four-wheeler segment. So the proposal was opposed by many quarters and subsequently dropped in 2005. The proposal was re-opened in 2012 and the government decided to bring in quadricycles once again. I was assigned to form a committee and frame rules and regulations for the same. I am of the view that it is a good concept as there is an improvement in the safety aspect over and above what three-wheelers offer. At the same time, the concerns of four-wheeler manufacturers are also valid. No quadric manufacturer should get a backdoor entry to personal movement segment (with cars). Therefore, adequate measures have been taken to ensure that products like Bajaj RE60 serves only that purpose for which it is conceptualised. That’s why we have recommended that the product should be notified as a commercial transport and not for any personal usage.

You have been now focussing on new areas like Resonances Fatigue Testing (RFT) machine, Electro Magnetic Compatibility (EMC), climatic test cells and prototyping centre for auto components. Will they all come under the non-certification process?

Many of the facilities that you have mentioned are being established under the NATRiP project. For example, a passive safety lab is a certification facility is also coming under the aforesaid project. Any certification facility has the scope for developmental work too. Fatigue testing, prototyping centre and Climatic Chambers are essentially a developmental facility and are under the non-certification process. But like passive safety facility, EMC come under the purview of certification process. Under NATRiP we are getting close to 700-crore investment and it would be evenly split between both the processes. Out of the areas that you have mentioned, RFT has already been installed and we are rendering our services to the industry. EMC lab is under installation and commissioning and should commence operations by the end of this year. Climatic test cells would be completed by July next year. We are enhancing the facilities of our powertrain lab to cater to the incremental demand in the market.

You have inked quite a few MOUs with overseas counterparts like CCIC, Korea and VCA, UK etc? So how is iCAT benefitting out of it? And are you targeting global automakers too?

With the CCIC MOU, we are able to get overseas business. We are also able to facilitate certification for Indian suppliers who wish to export their products to Korea or China.  We can do the same for Korean or Chinese suppliers at Indian standards. We have done quite a few projects under this MOU. As far as our association with VCA, UK is concerned, it’s not an MOU but an accreditation. They are a certification agency for European homologations. What we are doing under this association is we are supporting Indian vehicle manufacturers and parts suppliers who wish to export their products to Europe. While we will test their products, VCA will certify them.

So going forward, are you planning to cater to overseas automakers?

We are definitely catering to both homegrown and international OEMs who are running their operations here. We have got quite a few queries from international OEMs related primarily to the developmental work. Since a lot of facilities like NVH, EMC, crash-testing are not ready, we have not done any services for offshore clients. But in the future, we will definitely be serving them once we build our capabilities.

The government has also initiated a national mission on e-vehicles. So would you also be interested in forging alliances with overseas research firms to collaboratively work on hybrids, electric vehicles and also Atkinson cycle internal combustion engines? If yes, can you shed some light on that?

We are already working on Atkinson Cycle and HEV projects. These are in advanced stages of execution. However, we are not working on electric vehicles. The degree of electrification of powertrain will change with time due to the depletion of fossil fuels, global warming and rising costs of petroleum products.  Initially, it will start with a micro-hybrid system with start-stop features.  We organise international seminars on EVs and HEVs. For developing such vehicles in India, we have allied with Argon National Laboratory, Chicago, who is a big pioneer in EVS and HEV segments. We have been talking to them to have a project on battery technologies. So far the project has not been concretised.

iCAT has recently demonstrated an anti-glare headlighting system as part of a government research and development initiative to improve road safety. Do you really think such a technology will gain mass acceptance in India?

This system is the need of the hour and this country needs it after looking at 150 thousand deaths every year. But this will come more as legislation rather than somebody paying for this cost voluntarily. The other part of this system is that if a system is installed in my vehicle, it doesn’t help me. But if others will install it, it will definitely help me. So there is a bit of dichotomy in this system which can happen only through legislation. Unless it is mandated on a large scale, it will not give you any benefits.

As many global and domestic OEMs are setting up their in-house R&D centres in India, is it impacting your business? If yes, how are you then de-risking your business model?

No, it is not really impacting our business as you know the automobile business in this country is slated for a huge growth. And not many companies are setting up their R&D centres here. Even if some companies are setting up their facilities, the market will grow at a much bigger pace. There will be enough gaps for such requirements. For instance, even if Maruti Suzuki sets up a huge laboratory it will still be depending on us for the kind of testing requirements it may have. Moreover, a company may not have enough facilities for testing and are still developing multiple models. So I don’t see a big challenge for our facilities and hopefully we shall remain engaged with all the automakers.

iCAT had launched its Online Certification System (OCS) to speed up certification and homologation, related processes. What has been its response?

The response has been very good.  There are some bottom-rung customers who do not have the requisite infrastructure like internet connectivity, etc. For them, it’s a bit of a challenge to go for an OCS. But otherwise, the majority of our customers are happy with our online certification system as it has brought in a lot of efficiency and transparency than the offline system.

Lastly, what is your short-term, mid-term and long-term agenda for this centre? Where do you want to see it in the next few years in terms of revenues, employee strength, size, scale and prominence?

We have our vision and mission and have a rolling 5-year plan. This 5-year plan is floated every year. In the next five years, we should be looking at revenue of close to 150 crore. By that time, we will be able to ramp up our headcount to over 400.  Within a distance of 7km from iCAT, we will be establishing another such facility on 46 acres. The greenfield facility will be housing four major facilities test tracks, crash and NVH labs and EMC.  In India only three such centers will be equipped with such infrastructure will be there, the other two being GARC and ARAI. By 2018, iCAT will definitely be a very prominent centre globally.