India Will Have Its Own Crash Testing System: Bharat NCAP | Star Ratings Will Be Provided For Indian Conditions

A new rule applicable for eight-seater passenger carriers has been introduced under the Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. 

This rule is about the ratings of a car regarding crash safety, and it will be applicable in India from the next fiscal. 

Minister Nitin Gadkari Approves Bharat NCAP

The draft GSR (General Statutory Rules) notification has been approved by Nitin Gadkari, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) for Bharat NCAP or the New Car Assessment Programme. 

He has announced the new rule via a series of tweets. He has stated that automobiles will be given star ratings based on their performance in crash tests.

He tweets, “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.”

The GOI plans to introduce a safety assessment program similar to Euro NCAP and Global NCAP.

However, there is no news yet about the timeline for its launch.

What Does Bharat NCAP Include?

Under this rule, vehicles will need to achieve a high rating by including safety features such as 6 airbags, electronic stability control (ESC) and 3-point seatbelts. There also is the possibility that the government will make Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) mandatory, which includes features such as Advanced Emergency Braking System (AEBS), lane departure warning, forward collision warning, and driver drowsiness detection.

As of now, almost all vehicles that are manufactured and sold in India are assessed by Global NCAP. 

As per Gadkari, Bharat NCAP will be a consumer centric platform, wherein customers will be able to go for safer cars based on their star ratings and will also promote healthy competition among Indian manufacturers. 

Indian manufacturers, as per Gadkari, will be able to get their vehicles tested at India’s own in-house testing facilities. He tweets, “Bharat NCAP will prove to be a critical instrument in making our automobile  industry Aatmanirbhar with the mission of making India the Number 1 automobile hub in the world.”

The Bharat NCAP Programme was first introduced in 2016. The Bharat NCAP will include passive safety tests, testing of internal combustion-engined vehicles, test and rating CNG and electric vehicles based on their crash performance.

The one big difference that sets Bharat NCAP apart from other NCAP formats is that BNCAP will get a single unified rating for adult and child protection, whereas the others go for separate star ratings for adult and child protection.

The BNCAP will include frontal, side-impact testing for adult and child restraint systems.