New Delhi : Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has launched the much-awaited Bharat New Car Assessment Program (Bharat NCAP) on Tuesday. It comes as India’s indigenous car crash testing program to improve road safety and car standards. This program will be implemented across the country from October 2023. With this, India has now become the fifth country in the world to implement the New Car Assessment Program after the US, China, Japan and South Korea. Till now the safety rating of cars made in India was decided through Global NCAP, but after the implementation of this program from October, now the safety rating of cars will be decided by doing crash tests at the domestic level itself. The government has said that the objective of this program is to provide car customers with a tool to make a comparative assessment of the crash safety of motor vehicles available in the market.
Car accident death expected to decrease
The Bharat NCAP is expected to raise awareness about vehicle safety standards for motor vehicles weighing up to 3,500 kg, better position Indian-made cars in the global market and improve the country’s export potential. This is expected to reduce road accident related deaths and injuries across India. Car makers like Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Toyota have already hailed the program as a bold step in the right direction for the domestic auto industry.
Cars must pass crash test for safety rating
Under the India NCAP program, car manufacturers in the country will be able to submit their cars for voluntary testing under Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 197. Along with this, India NCAP will have the right to pick and choose the cars manufactured. Imported into the country from showrooms in India or for voluntary crash testing, with an aim to bring transparency in the process. These cars will be tested through various crash test methods and will be given star ratings for adult occupant protection (AOP) and child occupant protection (COP).
how the design was made
For cars to be eligible for India NCAP evaluation and get a three star or above rating, the model must be equipped with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) as standard. Bharat NCAP has been designed based on the updated Global NCAP protocol for certain tests and Euro NCAP, which has been the industry standard for many years. With the introduction of India NCAP, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is hopeful that the demand for safer cars will increase in the country, thereby encouraging car manufacturers to meet the needs of the customers.
India set the standard of NCAP
According to media reports, Bharat New Car Assessment Program is a crash test evaluation program, which after crash testing vehicles will be given zero to five star rating on the basis of their performance. The Union Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways has also set standards for conducting crash tests of cars in the country and giving them safety ratings. After the implementation of this program, vehicle manufacturers will give safety rating to their vehicles on the basis of test, which will facilitate the buyers to choose vehicles.
Who will do the crash test of vehicles
In the country, the work of crash testing of cars under India NCAP is being done by an agency called Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). ARAI has also completed preparations to conduct crash test of vehicles on the basis of all parameters. It is being told that ARAI has set up a laboratory equipped with modern technology at Pune and Chakan in Maharashtra to conduct crash tests of vehicles, in which more than 800 pre-NCM crash tests have been done so far. This agency is fully prepared to conduct international level tests as well.
India fifth country to implement NCAP
India is now set to become the fifth country after the US, China, Japan and South Korea to implement a car crash safety programme. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will launch Bharat NCAP on Tuesday and after this the program will be implemented on a large scale across the country.