Bharat NCAP launches as India's indigenous car crash test program

The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday launched the much-awaited Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP), which comes as India's indigenous car crash test program to improve road safety and car standards. Set to be enforced across the country from October 2023, the Bharat NCAP makes India the world's fifth country to have such an indigenous car crash test program after the US, China, Japan and South Korea. As the government has stated, the program aims to provide a tool to car customers to make a comparative assessment of the crash safety of motor vehicles available in the market.

Besides increasing the awareness around vehicular safety standards of motor vehicles weighing up to 3,500 kg, the Bharat NCAP is expected to place Indian cars in a better position in the global market and improve the country's export potential. This is expected to minimise road accident-related deaths and injuries across India. Car manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Toyota have already termed this program as a bold step in the right direction for the domestic auto industry.

Under the new Bharat NCAP programme, car manufacturers present in India will be able to submit their cars for voluntary testing under the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 197. Also, the Bharat NCAP will have the authority to select and pick up cars that are manufactured in India or imported to the country from showrooms for random crash testing, which is aimed to bring transparency to the procedure. 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).

For the cars to be qualified for the Bharat NCAP assessment and get a three-star rating or higher, the models must come equipped with electronic stability control (ESC) as standard. The Bharat NCAP has been designed based on the updated Global NCAP protocols and the Euro NCAP for certain tests, which have been the industry norm for many years.

With the introduction of the Bharat NCAP, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) expects that demands for safer cars will increase in the country, encouraging car manufacturers to comply with customer needs.