Mumbai-based TCR Engineering Services, founded in 1973, has achieved a landmark milestone by becoming the first independent company in India to receive Nadcap accreditation for materials testing at its two laboratories in Navi Mumbai and Vadodara. According to reports from Business Standard, this accreditation was granted by the US-based Performance Review Institute (PRI), which administers the programme on behalf of global aerospace primes. The achievement comes at a strategic time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the country's advancement towards manufacturing Made-in-India aircraft and zero-defect precision manufacturing in his recent Independence Day speech.
The Nadcap accreditation extends beyond individual laboratories to encompass the entire TCR Engineering group structure. As reported by Raksha Anirveda, the two laboratories hold separate Performance Review Institute certificates, 29415245997 and 29227245998 respectively, for the same AC7101 Materials Testing scope. Both certificates are valid to May 31, 2027 and both appear on the eAuditNet Qualified Manufacturers List, where any customer or prime can verify them directly. The accreditation covers the group's TCR Engineering Services at Mahape, Navi Mumbai and TCR Advanced Engineering at Makarpura, Vadodara, with both laboratories operating as Independent laboratories under the Nadcap framework. According to the latest press kit, TCR Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd. and TCR Advanced Engineering Pvt. Ltd. are separate legal entities holding separate certificates, so journalists should not place one entity's certificate number against the other's logo.
The accredited laboratories now offer comprehensive materials testing services that were previously unavailable domestically. According to Business Standard, the laboratories are accredited for tensile testing, impact testing, bend testing, metallography testing, microhardness testing, grain size testing, case depth testing, and electrical conductivity testing. The accredited scope under AC7101/3 covers room-temperature tensile, elevated-temperature tensile, impact and bend testing, while AC7101/4 covers metallographic evaluation, interior microindentation, surface case depth by microindentation, near-surface alpha case on wrought titanium, carburisation and decarburisation, and grain size. AC7101/5 covers Brinell, Rockwell and Vickers hardness together with electrical conductivity inspection, and AC7101/7 covers standard mechanical-testing specimen machining. Both laboratories can conduct alpha case evaluation on wrought titanium and various Brinell, Rockwell and Vickers tests for material indentation resistance. The latest press kit confirms that TCR holds AC7101 Materials Testing only and does not hold and does not claim AC7102 Heat Treatment, with both certificates recording the laboratory type as Independent.
The Nadcap accreditation ensures the highest international quality standards through rigorous global auditing processes. As explained by Avinash Tambewagh, Technical Head at TCR Engineering Services, "An accredited code is a promise about a number. That number comes off a machine that has to be calibrated on the day, run by an operator qualified for that specific method, on a specimen machined to the geometry the standard specifies. Nadcap audits every one of those links, and it audits them at both our laboratories to the identical scope. There is no Indian version of AC7101. It is the same audit criteria, the same auditors and the same evidence that a laboratory in Ohio or Toulouse has to produce." The certification enables Indian aerospace parts makers to complete internationally recognized testing at home instead of shipping specimens overseas, with "these two labs will reduce a costly and time-consuming step. A company like us developing a component may need to prove that the metal used in it meets the required specifications before the component can be qualified for an aircraft programme." The latest press kit confirms that there is no national variant of Nadcap and no concession for location - the audit examines calibration currency, operator qualification for each specific method, specimen geometry against the standard, and measured performance in international proficiency testing.
The Nadcap accreditation aligns with the expanding sourcing strategies of major aerospace manufacturers. As reported by Business Standard, Airbus currently sources more than $1.5 billion annually from India through over 100 Indian companies, with plans to increase sourcing to more than $2 billion before the end of this decade. Boeing currently sources more than $1.25 billion annually from India through a network of more than 300 companies, working on aircraft programmes including the 737, 777, 787 Dreamliner, P-8, Apache and Chinook. The accreditation enables Indian suppliers to meet strict quality requirements for global majors like Boeing, Airbus and Safran, reducing shipping, customs procedures, foreign exchange costs and waiting time significantly. Boeing India and South Asia President Salil Gupte had said in September 2025 that Indian suppliers had moved steadily up the value chain over the previous decade, progressing from making simple forgings and machined parts to complex assemblies and work involving carbon composites. Forgings are metal parts shaped by applying high pressure, while carbon composites are lightweight, high-strength materials made using carbon fibres and a binding material. Gupte had said the next frontier for Indian aerospace suppliers was 'build-to-specification' - under this model, suppliers do not simply manufacture a component from drawings provided by Boeing, but develop their own designs and intellectual property.
