Earlier in February of this year, we told you that the global vehicle safety agency – Global New Car Assessment Programme (GNCAP) expressed excitement at the prospectus of Bharat NCAP. Well, recently, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Nitin Gadkari made an announcement that he has approved a draft GSR (General Statutory Rules) notification for Bharat NCAP or New Car Assessment Programme. The MoRTH minister shared this news via Twitter.
Gadkari in a series of Twitter thread said, “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. @PMOIndia” He further added, “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.”
Elaborating on the importance of the Bharat NCAP Gadkari said that it is vital to provide Indian cars with a high star rating based on crash tests in order to boost their export worthiness and assure structural and passenger safety. Additionally, he stated, “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.”
Also read: Nissan building low cost, 7 seat MPV for India based on Renault Triber
The MoRTH minister continued by stating that Bharat NCAP would prove to be a crucial tool in developing our automotive sector and making it Aatmanirbhar. He also expressed that he wants to make India the world’s top automotive centre.
Meanwhile, Gadkari’s initiative to make cars safer by mandating 5 airbags in every car is on track. All cars from October 1, 2022 will have to offer 6 airbags. The measure has led to serious grumbling from the automotive industry, with Maruti complaining about how it would make selling small cars to Indian buyers even tougher. The addition of airbags would not be substantial for medium and higher end cars – but for the value conscious small car market where every thousand rupees is negotiated hard, the extra cost of the airbags would become a problem for car makers and buyers both.
Earlier in February of this year, the GNCAP finished a round of crash testing and announced the achievement of testing 50 cars from India under its ‘Safer Cars for India’ test program which commenced in 2014. The recent round of Indian cars that were crash tested by GNCAP included, Honda City, Honda Jazz, Nissan Magnite, and Renault Kiger and all four of these cars received an impressive four-star safety rating for adults in the testing. And with the testing of these cars, the milestone of 50 Indian car crash tests was achieved but it is to be noted that only 19 of the 50 cars tested since 2014 have been voluntarily given to the manufacturers, the rest of them were bought by GNCAP and then air-freighted to the testing facility of ADAC’s technical centre near Munich which is a German motoring association.
Currently, The FIA Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropy, and a few manufacturers that volunteer and pay for their own testing now provide financial support for the GNCAP. The GNCAP chief during an interview stated that the group has successfully obtained additional funding that will enable it to continue conducting tests through 2025, but he also stated that he anticipates the Bharat NCAP to establish its own testing facility in the Indian subcontinent after 2025.
Also read: 10 DC Design cars & how they look in the REAL world: Maruti Swift to Mahindra XUV500
Earlier in February of this year, we told you that the global vehicle safety agency – Global New Car Assessment Programme (GNCAP) expressed excitement at the prospectus of Bharat NCAP. Well, recently, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Nitin Gadkari made an announcement that he has approved a draft GSR (General Statutory Rules) notification for Bharat NCAP or New Car Assessment Programme. The MoRTH minister shared this news via Twitter.
Gadkari in a series of Twitter thread said, “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. @PMOIndia” He further added, “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.”
Elaborating on the importance of the Bharat NCAP Gadkari said that it is vital to provide Indian cars with a high star rating based on crash tests in order to boost their export worthiness and assure structural and passenger safety. Additionally, he stated, “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.”
Also read: Nissan building low cost, 7 seat MPV for India based on Renault Triber
The MoRTH minister continued by stating that Bharat NCAP would prove to be a crucial tool in developing our automotive sector and making it Aatmanirbhar. He also expressed that he wants to make India the world’s top automotive centre.
Meanwhile, Gadkari’s initiative to make cars safer by mandating 5 airbags in every car is on track. All cars from October 1, 2022 will have to offer 6 airbags. The measure has led to serious grumbling from the automotive industry, with Maruti complaining about how it would make selling small cars to Indian buyers even tougher. The addition of airbags would not be substantial for medium and higher end cars – but for the value conscious small car market where every thousand rupees is negotiated hard, the extra cost of the airbags would become a problem for car makers and buyers both.
Earlier in February of this year, the GNCAP finished a round of crash testing and announced the achievement of testing 50 cars from India under its ‘Safer Cars for India’ test program which commenced in 2014. The recent round of Indian cars that were crash tested by GNCAP included, Honda City, Honda Jazz, Nissan Magnite, and Renault Kiger and all four of these cars received an impressive four-star safety rating for adults in the testing. And with the testing of these cars, the milestone of 50 Indian car crash tests was achieved but it is to be noted that only 19 of the 50 cars tested since 2014 have been voluntarily given to the manufacturers, the rest of them were bought by GNCAP and then air-freighted to the testing facility of ADAC’s technical centre near Munich which is a German motoring association.
Currently, The FIA Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropy, and a few manufacturers that volunteer and pay for their own testing now provide financial support for the GNCAP. The GNCAP chief during an interview stated that the group has successfully obtained additional funding that will enable it to continue conducting tests through 2025, but he also stated that he anticipates the Bharat NCAP to establish its own testing facility in the Indian subcontinent after 2025.
Also read: 10 DC Design cars & how they look in the REAL world: Maruti Swift to Mahindra XUV500