National Automotive Board

India’s car and bike industry is large. Many offices dealt with it. In 2012 the Government set up one body to bring them together. That body is the National Automotive Board (NAB). This lesson covers its dates, its ministry, its test centres and the schemes it is tied to.

1.1 When was NAB set up?

NAB was constituted in October 2012, on the approval of the Cabinet. It was registered as a society on 27 August 2013. The law used was the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

A society is a body of members registered under that Act. The Government can use it to run work outside a normal department.

Memory hook: Cabinet 2012, society 2013.

1.2 Why was NAB created?

NAB was meant to be one platform for the whole automotive sector. It deals with testing, certification, homologation and the running of automotive labs.

Homologation means checking that a vehicle model meets the legal rules before it can be sold.

The society was registered with a specific object: operating and monitoring the FAME scheme, launched in 2015. FAME is the scheme to promote electric and hybrid vehicles.

The name sounds like an industry-promotion body. That tempts students to say Commerce and Industry. The answer is different.

2.1 Which ministry runs NAB?

NAB works under the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). It is not under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

NAB’s own site calls it a registered society under the Ministry of Heavy Industries. The ministry’s profile page lists NAB among its bodies. It says NAB was set up in 2012 to steer, coordinate and synergize the government’s efforts in the automotive sector.

Common mistake: matching a body to a ministry by its name. Check the ministry’s own list.

2.2 Who sits on its board?

The Secretary of MHI is the chairman. The members include officers of MHI, the Environment ministry, the Road Transport ministry and the Petroleum ministry. Industry bodies such as SIAM and ACMA are also members.

Before a new vehicle model reaches a showroom, it must pass safety and emission tests. NAB has the labs and the track for that.

3.1 Which test centres does NAB have?

NAB has three greenfield testing centres. A greenfield centre is built on fresh land, from scratch.

• ICAT: International Centre for Automotive Technology, Manesar, Haryana.
• GARC: Global Automotive Research Centre, Oragadam, Tamil Nadu.
• NATRAX: National Automotive Test Tracks, Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh.

A fourth centre, NIAIMT at Silchar, Assam, trains people in vehicle inspection and maintenance. It is now under ICAT’s administrative control.

3.2 What is NATRiP, and is it the same list?

NATRiP stands for the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project. It joins the Central Government, some State governments and the auto industry. It built new test centres and upgraded two old ones.

Invest India lists seven NATRiP facilities. They are GARC, ICAT, NATRAX, the Rae Bareli centre, NIAIMT, VRDE and ARAI.

NAB itself runs the first set only. Do not say NAB runs ARAI or VRDE.

Common mistake: treating the NATRiP list of seven as NAB’s own centres.

3.3 What else does NAB do?

NAB works as the National Certification Board for vehicles and components. It issues certificates based on reports from government-approved test centres. It also gathers data and advises the Government on automotive policy.

NAB was registered to run FAME. The scheme has since changed twice. Keep the dates straight.

4.1 What was FAME-II?

FAME stands for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles in India. Phase II began on 1 April 2019 and ran to 31 March 2024.

The ministry’s own scheme page says it was approved with Rs 10,000 crore for three years. PIB’s 2026 reply gives the full budget support as Rs 11,500 crore. Quote the figure with its source.

It gave demand incentives for e-two-wheelers, e-three-wheelers and e-four-wheelers. It gave grants for e-buses and public charging stations.

By PIB’s count, FAME-II supported about 16.72 lakh electric vehicles. 5,299 e-buses were deployed as on 31 July 2026.

4.2 What replaced it?

The Union Cabinet approved PM E-DRIVE on 11 September 2024. The full name is PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement. The outlay approved was Rs 10,900 crore, over two years.

The scheme was notified on 29 September 2024. It is now being implemented up to 31 March 2028. A PIB factsheet of 1 October 2026 gives the outlay as Rs 11,900 crore.

Common mistake: quoting Rs 10,900 crore as the current outlay. That was the original figure.

4.3 What does PM E-DRIVE support?

• Vehicles: demand incentives of Rs 3,679 crore. The scheme will support 24.79 lakh e-two-wheelers, 3.16 lakh e-three-wheelers and 14,028 e-buses.
• E-buses: Rs 4,391 crore for the 14,028 e-buses.
• Chargers: Rs 2,000 crore for public charging stations. The plan is 22,100 fast chargers for e-four-wheelers, 1,800 for e-buses and 48,400 for e-two and three-wheelers.
• Testing agencies: Rs 780 crore to upgrade the test agencies of MHI.

As of June 2026, 26.59 lakh EVs had been sold under the scheme.

UPSC asked about NAB in 2025. It used a swap trap.

5.1 What did UPSC ask in 2025?

UPSC CSP 2025, Paper I, Question 57 gave three pairs of body and ministry.

• National Automotive Board: Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Coir Board: Ministry of Heavy Industries.
• National Centre for Trade Information: Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

The question asked how many pairs were correct. The answer is (d), none.

5.2 What were the correct pairs?

• National Automotive Board: Ministry of Heavy Industries.
• Coir Board: Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
• NCTI: Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Each body had been given another body’s ministry. The three ministries moved in a circle.

Common mistake: trusting a body’s name to tell you its ministry. UPSC built Q57 on that habit.