Telangana govt to set up Centre of Excellence for Automobile Engineering in Zaheerabad

Hyderabad: Telangana Government will set up a Centre of Excellence for Automobile Engineering at Zaheerabad. It will train local youth in the automobile segment to help them find employment with players like Mahindra, MG, One Moto, Olectra and others that have set up or setting up their units at Zaheerabad, announced Industries and IT Minister KT Rama Rao.

Launching the MG Automative’s EV Park at Zaheerabad, which is Telangana’s first plug-and-play EV Park, Rama Rao said the new CoE will be named after former President of India and aerospace scientist APJ Abdul Kalam. Telangana Government is in talks with UK-based University of Warwick to be a partner in this. Telangana Academy of Skills and Knowledge (TASK) will be the other key stakeholder, he said.

This will mainly be of help to students who completed schooling or the ITI diploma holders. Telangana will launch T-Works, the prototyping facility that helps with the hardware and design, in its permanent campus in August. This will help several sectors including automobiles, he said.

Electric vehicles will be the future in view of the targets to reduce carbon emissions. Most automobile players have already started working on electric or hybrid vehicle solutions.

“The future of world transportation will be sustainable mobility. The difference between conventional vehicles and electric vehicles is that the latter are computers on wheels and are battery-driven. The automobile industry in the past was concentrated in a few pockets like Chennai and Pune due to the presence of ecosystems. Telangana has devised the EV and Energy Storage Solutions. Zaheerabad is emerging as the hub for not just automobiles but also EV Vehicles,” he said.

Amit Mohan Kamat, MD of MG Group, said Telangana State’s EV Policy gave impetus to the EV industry. He said it employs about 1,500 people and so far its plants in Telangana delivered 1.25 lakh buses and special coaches.

MG EV Park will help EV startups reduce gestation period in bringing out new automobile products. Two EV startups – Padmaja Greentech and Zero 21 Renewable Energy Solutions – are already part of MV EV Park. It is in talks with a few other EV startups. It wants to be a catalyst in developing fossil-fuel free transport solutions.

Rama Rao unveiled electric scooters made by Padmaja Greentech and three wheelers by Zero 21. Chargers for buses and four-wheelers were also launched.

Mahindra tractors

Mahindra Group reached the three-lakh mark in tractor production from its Zaheerabad plant. Rama Rao visited the company facility to unveil the milestone tractor.