Monday, July 17, 2023
By Kamal Swami
Car Manufacturers In India Welcome Bharat NCAP Test
The government of India will introduce the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP) in India from October 1, 2023. Undergoing the test will ensure the safety measures offered in a new car launched in the Indian car market. With the introduction of this test, the carmakers in India will not have to get their cars tested by the Global NCAP agency, but only through the Bharat NCAP agency. Before the government of rolls out this test, major carmakers of the Indian car market including Maruti Suzuki India Limited, Mahindra & Mahindra, Toyota Motors, Skoda, and Kia have welcomed this decision of the Indian government. According to reports, Bharat NCAP will be conducted for cars in India. The car manufacturers manufacturing or importing cars in India will have to undergo this test.
For this, they will have to submit a request to the Bharat NCAP agency to conduct the test and rate their vehicle. Ratings will be done according to the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) - 197. All the major carmakers across the country have favoured the Bharat NCAP test and consider it the right step to enhance the safety standards of cars in India. At present domestic carmakers, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors have most of their vehicles with high-security GNCAP ratings. Both groups have considered this a bold step by the Indian government. In the words of Velusamy R, President, Automotive Technology and Product Development. Mahindra & Mahindra,
“We at Mahindra believe it is one of the bold steps by the Ministry of road transport and we welcome the implementation of Bharat NCAP". Industry experts believe that the government will offer some benefits to car manufacturers and encourage them for enhancing the quality of their products.
Commenting on this, Rahul Bharti, Executive Officer (Corporate Affairs) at Maruti Suzuki India, said, "In principle, the customer information and empowering the customer through authentic information is always a positive and welcome step, so Maruti Suzuki will support it". It would be interesting that despite being the leading car manufacturer in the country, cars manufactured by the Indo-Japanese car maker MSIL aren't good in the GNCAP test. However, the MSIL cars in India are safe to drive, and this test will further ensure their safety. In the words of the spokesperson of Toyota Motors, “We believe that Bharat-NCAP is a step in the right direction. While the industry has been proactively pushing for new benchmark safety standards, there is also a growing awareness amongst customers for better safety features which has put further impetus on advancements and introduction of newer norms in the country".
Moving ahead the Korean car maker Kia has also welcomed the step of the Indian government. Expressing his view, Tae-Jin Park, MD and CEO at Kia India, at present the carmaker is making its vehicles based on the draft of instructions mentioned in Bharat NCAP norms. The cars under the Bharat NCAP test will be tested from different angles and will be rated between one and five ratings according to their performance. During the test, cars will be crashed from the front side, side profile, and pole-side impacts and driven at a speed above 60 kmph.
