New Highs

In an upfront interaction, Shekhar Dhole, Scientist - C & Head Safety & Homologation/Certification spoke about Automotive Research Association of India striving for newer highs post 2020.

Q. How has CIRT added to its efficiencies in the calendar year 2020 and FY2020-21, Year-To-Date, in the midst of the pandemic? Are you close to functioning at pre-Covid levels of operation?

A. When we started functioning as per the government guidelines, the operations resumed around the clock manner and not the usual nine to five office hours. We went beyond our comfort zone and distributed employees across notification wise divisions to deal with the respective certifications. However, we knew our limitations when it came to real-time turnarounds so we prioritized tasks and began completing assignments. That brought some cheer and a sense of achievement within the team. After a gap of nearly three-four months, we were succeeding in our ways and are now gearing up to be fully loaded.

Even though we could not achieve last year’s goal but we’ll close upon it. The last quarter (Q2FY2021) worked well for us. Together with the CIRT Director, we ensured full support was extended to the employees. We are fortunate to have a safe atmosphere complete with all precautionary measures carried throughout the campus. I am proud to share that there is no fear in the minds of the employees pertaining to the pandemic. Depending on the scope of work, we are confident of landing with more revenue and hope to cross previous benchmarks. At least, we are sure the lost momentum will not result in a big blow for us.

Q. How have you responded to the needs of the automotive component and vehicle OEMs including ancillaries? How have you supported the quick go-to-market strategy and commercialisation needs for products across segments?