The Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT) was established in 1967 on the joint initiative of the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) and the then Ministry of Shipping and Transport, Government of India. The main objectives of CIRT were (a) to provide management development, consulting and research support to the road transport sector and (b)to develop facilities for testing the quality of automobile components and materials purchased by transport undertakings. In fulfilment of the second objective, CIRT established an Engineering Research Centre consisting of Automotive, Electrical, Chemical and Metallurgical laboratories. These laboratories evolved during the last three decades. To begin with, certain basic equipment was acquired and the necessary test rigs were fabricated in-house. These were later upgraded in respect of instrumentation and computerisation. 

Commitment to Success
In order to ensure continuous improvement in the quality of the components and materials, CIRT undertook drawing up of specifications in collaboration with both the users and the manufacturers. CIRT has been conducting periodic conferences and workshops to foster a healthy interaction between manufacturers and users. These exposures have helped develop a greater understanding of one another's point of view, apart from upgrading specifications and testing processes for ensuring an increasingly higher quality of components and materials. 

Reaching Out To Policies
In its efforts to strengthen the Engineering Research Centre, CIRT sought and received financial support not only from ASRTU but from the Ministry of Surface Transport. In addition, the Ministry of Industry has been allocating funds from the R & D cess for purchase of expensive and sophisticated equipment from abroad. The grants from the Ministry of Surface Transport were mainly utilized for the construction of new buildings for library and tyre testing laboratory. With the grants released from R & D cess funds, CIRT imported tyre-testing equipment at a cost of Rs. 40 million and has set up one of the most modern tyre testing laboratories in the country. 

Quest For New Technology
In order to keep pace with the latest in automotive testing technology CIRT entered into a technical collaboration under the auspices of the European Union - with TUV in Munich and UTAC in Paris. Experts from these laboratories visited CIRT and helped in formulating a perspective plan particularly with regard to testing tyres, wheels and rims, auto bulbs and safety glass. CIRT's scientists have received training in Munich and Paris and are actively engaged in institutionalising sophistication, precision and speed in testing. The production of automobiles in India has witnessed a quantum jump with multinational automobile giants converging to take advantage of growing market and the strong engineering base. It is CIRT's endeavour to provide state-of-the-art facilities for testing the whole range of automobile components and materials which will enable India's ancillary industries to measure their own quality, both for meeting the demand from within the country and exploring opportunities for export.