Vehicles Research & Development Establishment

The history of VEHICLES RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ESTABLISHMENT (VRDE) dates back to 1929, when the Chief Inspectorate of Mechanical Transport was formed at Chaklala (now in Pakistan). In 1947, the Inspectorate was shifted to Ahmednagar and renamed as Technical Development Establishment (Vehicles), popularly known as TDE (V). In 1962, the engineering wing was separated with creation of an independent establishment at Pune, named as Research & Development Establishment (Engineers), known as R&DE (Engrs).

Further in 1965, the activities were bifurcated as R&D and Inspection and thus two separate establishments viz. Vehicles Research & Development Establishment and Controllerate of Quality Assurance Vehicles (CQAV), came into existence. In 1966, a detachment of VRDE was created at Avadi, Chennai, to assist in production of tanks at Heavy Vehicle Factory, Avadi; which eventually lead to formation of Combat Vehicles R&D Establishment (CVRDE) and further bifurcation of roles.