The National Test House will set up places to test electric vehicle batteries in Mumbai and Kolkata.
To go along with the government’s push for electric vehicles (EVs), the National Test House (NTH) will set up testing facilities for EV batteries and charging systems at its Mumbai and Kolkata centres, an official said on Monday. The NTH will also build a cutting-edge place to test transformers in Jaipur, the official said.
Nidhi Khare, an Additional Secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs, told a press conference that the government is using the PM Gati Shakti Portal to fill in gaps and build a strong testing ecosystem, as well as to make it easier to do business.
The transformer testing facility in Jaipur will cover about 10,000 square metres, and the project will cost about Rs. 125 crore. “The government of Rajasthan gave this land to us for a small amount of money, just Rs 1.” “This is also very, very important for lowering transportation costs, which were making testing very, very expensive,” Khare said.
Officials say that the transformer testing centre will be able to test transformers with a range of up to 10MVA. The official said that in addition to testing transformers, this facility will also test things like current transformers, potential transformers, overhead conductors, high voltage XLPE cables, insulators, and surge arrestors.
According to the official, most transformer makers from Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh have to send their products to Electrical Research and Development Association (ERDA) in Vadodara and Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) in Bhopal/Bangalore for testing.
“This test facility will cut down on the time and money needed to get samples of transformers to be tested. This will cut the time it takes to test transformers from months to a few days, according to a statement from the government.
Alok Kumar Shrivastava, who was also there, said that the NTH will set up places to test electric vehicles and their charging systems as part of its new plans. He said that EVs need to be tested and standardised, and that the NTH will set up test facilities for EV batteries and EV charging systems in the Mumbai and Kolkata regions.
He also said that the NTH wants to start new projects to test the quality of water and fertiliser.
