Bharat NCAP was launched by Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari where the government aims to improve road safety by raising the safety standards of motor vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes in India.
“This is the time when we have the highest priority for how we can save lives of the people, and road safety is the most important thing for that. Road engineering is a big problem somewhere; out total process of making detailed project report is a completely wrong methodology. We are trying our level best to educate our engineers about the types of mistakes we are repeating in road engineering,” said Gadkari during the launch of Bharat NCAP.
“The programme aims to provide a tool to the car customers to make a comparative assessment of crash safety of motor vehicles available in the market,” an official statement said.
Under this programme, car manufacturers can voluntarily offer their cars to be tested as per the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 197. Based on the performance of the car in the tests, car will be awarded star ratings for Adult Occupants (AOP) and Child Occupant (COP).With demand for safer cars increasing, car manufacturers will be encouraged to comply with customer needs.New safety norms will also enable Indian cars to compete better in the global market as they will comply with higher safety standards in the future. This will increase the export potential of the domestic car manufacturers while developing a safety sensitive car market in the country. At present, India is the world’s third-largest car market.
(With agency inputs)