Muktsar (Punjab), Feb 20 The Punjab government in association with the Tata Motors Friday set up a state-of-the-art driving school at Mahuana village in this district.

Aimed at providing employment opportunity to the local youth and to develop the right attitude for safe driving and road safety among new learners, the 'State Institute of Automotive and Driving Skills' (SIADS) has been set up. It is spread over 14 acres.

It will be operated and maintained by a society, especially set up for this purpose, and would be self-sustaining.

"The department of technical education and industrial training of Punjab has provided instructors for all the training courses. The objective of the institute is to provide training to the youth of Punjab and to enhance their employability," a state spokesperson said here on Friday.

The SIADS has already started training drivers for heavy and light commercial vehicles, buses, passenger cars, off-the-road (OTR) vehicles, earth moving equipment, and is also imparting technical training related to fields like auto mechanics, welding, painting, electrical, electronics and air-conditioning for the last four months.

"Each batch in a trade has a capacity to accommodate around 32 learners and the module is designed for 1-2 years depending on the trade, whereas for the driving training the duration ranges up to 3 months," stated the spokesperson.

The Punjab government has invested nearly Rs.15 crore towards creating a modern complex, testing track, computerised driving test and hostel facilities, besides providing the land and infrastructure.

The Tata Motors and Telcon have invested about Rs.2.75 crore in providing support in the form of designing course content, technical assistance and know-how, guidance, vehicles and earth moving equipment, training aggregates and teaching aids.

An official of Tata Motors, who was also present at the inauguration here on Friday, said that the company intends to set up similar driving training institutes in other states in association with the state governments.

Mahuana village in this district is around 250 km from the state capital Chandigarh.