NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has approved the draft notification to introduce ‘Bharat NCAP’ (New Car Assessment Programme), wherein automobiles in India shall be accorded star ratings based on their performance in crash tests, an official statement said on Friday.
Gadkari said this assessment programme will serve as a consumer-centric platform allowing customers to opt for safer cars based on their star ratings. This is expected to promote healthy competition among original equipment manufacturers in India to manufacture safer vehicles.
Gadkari said that the star ratings 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.
Further, he went on to say that the testing protocol of Bharat NCAP shall be aligned with global crash test protocols factoring in the existing Indian regulations, allowing manufacturers to get their vehicles tested at India’s own in-house testing facilities.
Lastly, he added that this programme will prove to be a critical instrument in making India’s automobile industry ‘Aatma Nirbhar’ or self-reliant, with the mission of making India the number one automobile hub in the world. (ANI)