Context: Recently, the International Centre of Automotive Technology (ICAT) is developing a technology platform for the automotive industry called ASPIRE - Automotive Solutions Portal for Industry, Research and Education.
Background

• Department of Heavy Industry (DHI)-Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises has taken initiative to promote innovation and to develop the related eco-system.
• To facilitate this initiative, DHI, through organizations under its aegis, is creating technology platforms–e-portals for various sectors.
• There are five portals being developed for specific sectors by different organizations viz, BHEL for power sector equipment, HMT for machine tools, CMFTI for manufacturing technology, ICAT and ARAI for automotive sector.

ASPIRE (Automobile Solutions Portal for Industry, Research & Education)

• It has been launched by the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT).
• Objective: To enhance the technological capability of Indian automotive sector through exchange of knowledge & expertise, in order to make them self-reliant and to facilitate the growth of automobile sector and overall socio-economic progress of the country.
• The e-portal will act as a one stop solution providing a technology platform which will help to bring together the various stakeholders from the Indian auto industry.
• This includes bringing together the automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Tier 1 Tier 2 & Tier 3 companies, R&D institutions and academia (colleges & universities) on matters involving technology advancements.
• The portal will also host grand challenges in line with the need of the industry as will be identified from time to time, for development of key automotive technologies.

International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT)

• ICAT was established in 2006 at Manesar, Haryana, India.
• It is providing quality services to the industry in all the domains of automotive and non-automotive development, such as Powertrain, Noise Vibration and Harshness, Component, Fatigue, Photometry, Tyre & Wheel, Passive Safety, EMC and CAD & CAE.
• ICAT had hosted the world class event NuGen Mobility Summit-2019.