Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday approved a draft notification that paves the way for the country to have its own crash-linked safety performance star rating system for cars.
The five star-rating system under the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat- NCAP) will assign cars between one to five stars based on how well they perform in crash tests with zero star indicating lowest safety standards. The overall assessment is based on the performance of the vehicle under three broad categories- adult occupant protection, child occupant protection and safety assist technologies.
“Bharat-NCAP will serve as a consumer-centric platform allowing customers to opt for safer cars based upon their star-ratings, while promoting a healthy competition among OEMs in India to manufacture safer vehicles,” Mr. Gadkari tweeted. He said that such a move would not only ensure structural and passenger safety but also increase the export-worthiness of Indian automobiles, making the automobile industry “Aatmanirbhar with the mission of making India the number 1 automobile hub in the world.”
