India plans to roll out its vehicle safety standards, mirroring similar programmes globally, in a renewed push towards improving road and vehicle safety in the country that has one of the world’s worst road safety records.
The Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) will look at the safety of new vehicles and assign star ratings on their safety and sturdiness, in line with Global NCAP and European NCAP car safety programmes, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari told reporters.
He did not give a timeframe for launching the new vehicle safety standards. Gadkari said consumer safety and public awareness about the safety norms are his ministry’s prime focus.
He also said the government would make it mandatory for all new vehicles that can carry up to eight passengers to have at least six airbags. This will comprise side curtain airbags in addition to the current two front airbags. Other features such as a three-point seat belt and automatic emergency braking system (AEBS) will also be made mandatory for new passenger vehicles, he said.
To be sure, talks of an Indian NCAP for testing the safety of new vehicles have been doing the rounds for the past couple of years, but they are still to be formally introduced.
Gadkari said steps such as production linked incentive (PLI) schemes have led to an increase in domestic production of airbags, resulting in a drop in prices. He said fitting two airbags earlier used to cost automakers about Rs. 12,000, which has now declined to about Rs. 3,000 for airbags.
