India's Karun Chandhok will make his Formula One race debut with HRT this season, the new Spanish-based team said in a statement on Thursday.
The 26-year-old Chennai-born driver will partner Brazilian rookie Bruno Senna at the cash-strapped team, who have changed their name from Campos Meta, when the season starts in Bahrain next week.
"We have been very impressed with Karun's performance in GP2," said team principal Colin Kolles. "It will be great for the sport to have an Indian driver on the grid for the first Indian Grand Prix."
India, with a circuit under construction near New Delhi, is due to make its debut on the race calendar next year.
The only other Indian driver to have raced in Formula One was Narain Karthikeyan for the Jordan team, at the time also run by Kolles, in 2005.
Chandhok also partnered Senna, nephew of the late triple world champion Ayrton, in the GP2 support series.
HRT, also known as Hispania Racing F1 team, changed their name this month after Campos Meta Formula One team were bought by Spanish businessman Jose Ramon Carabante.
The Cosworth-powered car, which has not been tested ahead of the March 14 season opener, was unveiled on Thursday in the south-eastern city of Murcia where the first Spanish F1 team will be based.
USF1 ruled out for 2010, no replacement by Stefan GP
Formula One will have 12 teams this season, instead of a planned 13, after a late replacement for the USF1 entry was ruled out by the governing body on Wednesday.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that USF1 had "indicated that they will not be in a position to participate in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.
"Having considered the various options, the FIA confirms that it is not possible for a replacement team to be entered for the Championship at this late stage."
The decision ended the hopes of Serbian-backed Stefan GP, who were waiting in the wings to take the stricken American team's place at next week's season-opener in Bahrain.
The FIA said it would announce shortly details of a new selection process "to identify candidates to fill any vacancies existing at the start of the 2011 season."
Charlotte, North Carolina-based USF1 had planned to become Formula One's first all-American team in more than 40 years but struggled to raise funding during the worst economic downturn to hit America since the 1930s.
Principal Ken Anderson had said on Tuesday that his team, one of four newcomers planning to debut this season, had asked to defer their entry for a year and had meanwhile told employees to stop work at the factory.
USF1 had previously announced a deal for Argentine Jose Maria Lopez to drive for them. Lopez's management has since terminated the contract.
Stefan GP, run by Serbian businessman Zoran Stefanovic and encouraged by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, had agreed a deal with Toyota to use the cars they had built for this season before the manufacturer pulled out at the end of last year.
Japan's Kazuki Nakajima would have been one of their drivers while Canada's former world champion Jacques Villeneuve had also been in contact with the team, who had not taken part in any testing.
The absence of USF1 left Virgin Racing, Malaysian-backed Lotus Racing and the renamed HRT F1 (formerly Campos Meta) as the three completely new teams.
