India will have own rating for vehicles based on crash test performance: Gadkari
Premium- The Bharat NCAP will check the safety of new vehicles and assign star ratings based on the parameters that are in line with global NCAP and European NCAP
Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday said his ministry has approved the draft notification to introduce Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) wherein automobiles in India shall be accorded ‘star ratings’ based on their performance in crash tests.
The Bharat NCAP will check the safety of new vehicles and assign star ratings based on the parameters that are in line with global NCAP and European NCAP.
Bharat NCAP will serve as a consumer-centric platform allowing customers to opt for safer cars based on their star-ratings, while promoting a healthy competition among OEMs in India to manufacture safer vehicles, the minister said in a tweet.
The government proposes to notify the new regulation on Bharat NCAP within a could of months so that process can be adopted for the automobile industry soon and safer and properly tested vehicles are sold in the market.
Star rating of Indian cars based on crash tests is extremely crucial not only to ensure structural and passenger safety, but also to increase the export-worthiness of Indian automobiles.
The testing protocol of Bharat NCAP is proposed to be aligned with Global Crash Test Protocols factoring in the existing Indian regulations, allowing OEMs to get their vehicles tested at India’s own in-house testing facilities.
“Bharat NCAP will prove to be a critical instrument in making our automobile industry Aatmanirbhar with the mission of making India the Number 1 automobile hub in the world," the minister tweeted.
Apart from Bharat NCAP, the government is set to come up with several new norms to improve vehicle safety and curb road accidents. Among these is a measure to make six airbags mandatory for all passenger vehicles.
Other features including three-point seat belt, automatic emergency braking system (AEBS) will be made mandatory features for new vehicles soon.
Estimates suggest that India sees around 1.5 lakh road accidents every year, causing 3.1% loss to the GDP. The government aims to reduce road accidents by 50% by the year 2025.