Meerut,  The Union Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises is setting up the country's first-ever sports helmet testing facility in Meerut.

Till now, the helmets, worn primarily by cricketers and hockey players, were sent for testing abroad even though they were manufactured in sports goods manufacturing hubs like Baroda, Delhi and Meerut.

A proposal for setting up such a testing centre was sent to the Ministry under the 'hub and spoke model' by the MSME's regional technological development centre in Meerut a few months ago.

This model structure is often used by investment firms to reduce costs and maintain efficiency.

Aditya Prakash Sharma, deputy manager at the MSME technological development centre at the sports complex in Meerut, said: "The main testing centre will be set up in Meerut with an extension facility at Okhla in Delhi. The centre at Meerut will be ready in four months and the entire project will cost around Rs 3 crore. Testing is likely to begin from the first week of February 2023."

Meerut manufactures thousands of sports helmets every year.

Manufacturers had to earlier send samples of sports helmets for testing to countries like the UK for a quality certificate. But with the setting up of a facility in the city, the testing can be done here itself, Sharma added.

A team of testing experts from Canada will provide training to the centre staff.

"For instance, the impact of a strike by a fast bowler's high-speed delivery on the entire helmet will be tested and examined using state-of-the-art equipment. The centre will also provide a certificate to the manufacturers," Sharma said.