Asia’s longest high-speed test track has been inaugurated today in the Pithampur district of Madhya Pradesh. The newly opened world-class NATRAX facility is 11.3 km long and will facilitate automotive and component testing in the country going forward. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today virtually inaugurated the new facility. The minister said that this track is the fifth largest in the world and also, more equipped than facilities in China and Japan. The oval-shaped test track is 16 metres wide and has four independent lanes. With the development of the NATRAX (National Automotive Test Tracks) Indore facility, it is being ensured that domestic vehicles are not needed to be sent abroad for testing.
High-Speed Track is the heart of any proving ground for the auto sector. Today, inaugurated the longest high-speed track in Asia at Indore.
A proud moment for India and a key initiative in realising PM Shri @narendramodi ‘s vision of #AatmaNirbharBharat pic.twitter.com/lTnaz0ppQv
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) June 29, 2021
In addition, the new track is now open to having vehicles from overseas for getting evaluated here as a part of the testing process. The just-launched high-speed track is designed for neutral speeds of 250 kmph and maximum speeds of up to 375 kmph on curbs with no limit to maximum speed on the straight patch. Moreover, the track benefits from the zero percent longitudinal slope that basically helps in improving the accuracy of the measurement of the performance of vehicles. The minister said that the high-speed track shall carry out development and homologation tests for all kinds of vehicles.
Moreover, a wide variety of tests can be done on the track like maximum speed, brake performance, constant fuel consumption, emission test, high-speed handling, and also, durability testing. Needless to say, the high-speed test track can also be used for testing high-end cars. The project NATRAX is being built under NATRiP (National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project) of the Heavy Industries Ministry.
NATRAX happens to be one of the automotive testing and certification centres in the country. NATRAX has confirmed that the new facility can also be used for commercial events like product launches, dealer events and also, racing. It further added that Volkswagen, FCA, Renault, Peugeot and Lamborghini have shown their interest in using the new facility. Stay tuned with Express Drives for more updates and also, subscribe to our YouTube channel.
