Millbrook - ICAT celebrate a ‘GREAT Collaboration’ in automotive research and development
The agreement is the first of its kind to be signed by Millbrook Proving Grounds with an international partner.
Millbrook, one of Europe’s leading independent technology centres for the engineering, test and development of vehicles and vehicle systems and India’s International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) have agreed to work together to promote each another’s services, facilities and capabilities in India and the UK.
This will allow vehicle manufacturers from both countries to get their vehicles tested and certified with relative ease prior to entering the two markets. Millbrook is a 700 acre test facility, unique with rolling hills, 70 km of test track, and tests vehicles of all shapes, sizes and uses, from small cars to tanks, buses, and heavy goods vehicles. Significantly the partnership will lead to considerable skill-sharing and knowledge transfer between the two companies, with engineers and staff from each country learning from their counterparts.
St.John Gould, Director of UK Trade, Investment and Prosperity in India hosted an event at the British High Commission New Delhi to celebrate this collaboration. The event was attended by Dr. Dinesh Tyagi, Director of ICAT and Alex Burns, Chief Executive Officer at Millbrook along with senior officials from both the companies and the UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) team.
St.John Gould, Director of UK Trade, Investment and Prosperity, said:
We are proud to celebrate this strategic partnership between one of the UK’s pioneers in automotive testing and development and India’s leading testing & certification agency. We are glad that Millbrook chose India to expand their international outreach by collaborating with ICAT. I hope that in due course this would benefit both companies and enhance bilateral trade in the automotive sector. This goes on to show the credibility and trust India and Indian companies hold in the UK’s expertise; it also showcases the impact of ‘GREAT Collaborations’ between the two countries.
Alex Burns, CEO of Millbrook said:
We are very keen to increase our activity internationally and particularly in India, and this is a fantastic opportunity for us to build on existing relationships and create new contacts within the automotive industry in India. We are hopeful that automakers of both the countries would leverage this collaboration to increase and improve their business.
Dr. Dinesh Tyagi, Director of ICAT said:
We are pleased to have signed this agreement with Millbrook Proving Grounds and look forward to working together to create a long and successful relationship that is mutually beneficial. With Millbrook’s extensive laboratories, more than 45 years’ experience in automotive testing and development and unique test tracks we’re sure that it will be a great asset to ICAT and its customers.
Further information
- about ‘GREAT for Collaboration’
In response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to the world to ‘Make in India’, the UK launched a campaign to celebrate and inspire ‘GREAT Collaborations’ between the UK and India. The campaign will over time showcase and promote areas of collaboration that benefit both countries across a range of sectors such as energy, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, ease of doing businesses, skills, smart cities, financial services and infrastructure.
The first showcase ‘GREAT Collaboration’ was the partnership between UK’s BP plc and India’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in developing and producing much needed energy in India.
At the launch of the ‘GREAT Collaborations’ in January 2015 British Prime Minister David Cameron had said:
I am proud of the depth and breadth of the UK’s links with India. British companies such as Standard Chartered, GSK, Hindustan Unilever, BP and Vodafone have been making in India for decades. And companies such as Tata, Mahindra and CIPLA are operating in the UK and India, benefitting both of our countries. Through this campaign we want to inspire and showcase more such GREAT Collaborations across all the sectors we work together on. It underlines our support for Prime Minister Modi’s Make in India campaign and celebrates India and Britain making GREAT things together.
At the launch Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, described UK-India collaboration as an ‘unbeatable combination’:
I am pleased that British industry, supported by its government, is responding enthusiastically to our call for ‘Make in India’. UK has been one of our strongest economic partners and a leading investor in India. UK is known for its strength in technology and innovation. India offers vast opportunities through its markets, skilled human resources, competitive economic environment and location. Our businesses also operate in the familiar context of democratic polity, rule of law, language and management practices. This creates an unbeatable combination to forge successful partnerships that can bring immense benefits to both countries. India’s new investment climate will, I hope, attract an even greater number of British businesses to set up manufacturing bases in India.
For more information please contact:
Stuart Adam, Head,
Press and Communications
British High Commission, Chanakyapuri
New Delhi 110021
Tel: 44192100; Fax: 24192411
Mail to: Sakthy Edamaruku
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