India has one of the largest booming auto industries in the world but not a single dedicated auto design school. This will change with Dilip Chhabria, noted automotive designer, set to introduce the country's first Automotive Design Institute in August this year.

The institute, DC College, will be the country's only and Asia's third automotive institute which will offer courses on par with international institutes in the west.

The courses offered will be on automotive styling and transportation design and there will be live projects, resulting in an actual car being built, besides industry internship.

Dilip Chhabria, head of the institute, says, "Automobile is such a passion with youngsters that they don't hesitate to build a career in it. DC College will provide all the technical training that they require in India to build that career. We will provide practical training too."

The institute has tied-up with Italian design houses like Europeo di Design for assistance in styling courses and Polytechnic di Turino for assistance in automobile engineering courses. It has already signed an MoU with these institutes.

DC College will start with offering diplomas in Digital Modeling CAS (computer aided styling)-ICEM. The course is for a period of one year with batches commencing every six months.

The eligibility criteria for admission is graduation in any discipline. Per batch intake is limited to 40 students. The institute will offer five more courses from August 2008. It has divided these courses in phase II and phase III. Phase III will start in August 2009 with specialisations in engineering, marketing and design management.

The institute has not worked out the fee structure as yet but according to HP Deshpande, consultant to the institute, the course fees will be approximately Rs 20,000 per annum - irrespective of the course undertaken. Upon completion of the course graduates can start with a salary of at least Rs 20,000.

DC College would also offer placement with organisations in India or abroad. DC Design, a car design house owned by Chhabria, already has a client list including Renault, Fiat, Bajaj, Tata, General Motors, Toyota, Ford to name a few.

"Placements will not be a problem as DC Design already has a huge client list. We will also organise such placements to help students for quality securing jobs," concludes Deshpande.