Nitin Gadkari approves draft of Bharat-NCAP car safety rating system for India
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday approved the draft notification introducing Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) for Indian cars, which will be accorded star ratings based on their performance in crash tests, once the rule is finalised.
“I have now approved the Draft GSR Notification to introduce Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Program), wherein automobiles in India shall be accorded Star Ratings based upon their performance in Crash Tests,” the minister Tweeted.
“Bharat-NCAP will serve as a consumer-centric platform allowing customers to opt for safer cars based on their star ratings while promoting healthy competition among OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in India to manufacture safer vehicles,” the minister said in a series of tweets.
“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,” Gadkari added.
The Union Minister said that the testing protocol of Bharat NCAP shall 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.
Gadkari added that star rating of Indian cars based on crash tests is extremely crucial not only to ensure structural and passenger safety in cars but to also increase the export-worthiness of Indian automobiles.
Under this, the cars, as part of the Bharat-NCAP program, will undergo several tests and based on their performance, will be given a rating.
Up until now, the Global NCAP has been testing made-in-India cars under its “Safer Cars for India” initiative, which has been assessing vehicles for their crashworthiness.
