Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday launched the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP) which aims to enhance road safety by elevating vehicle safety standards for up to 3.5-tonne vehicles in India.

Addressing a gathering on the occasion, he called it a landmark step towards empowering consumers to make an appropriate choice for buying safer cars.

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Gadkari said BHARAT NCAP would also greatly push the safety and quality of the vehicles in India, while simultaneously promoting healthy competition among OEMs to manufacture safer vehicles.

He said the new safety regime under BHARAT NCAP and AIS-197 was a mutual win-win for manufacturers and consumers and an instrumental step towards safeguarding the lives of citizens and making the Indian automobile industry the number one auto manufacturing hub in the world.

The programme is applicable to type-approved motor vehicles of the M1 category less than 3.5T GVW. This is a voluntary programme in which the base variants of a given model shall be tested.

This programme will commence on 1 October and will be based on the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 197. The programme aims to create an ecosystem of competitive safety enhancements leading to increased awareness among consumers. Consumers can take an informed decision by making a comparative assessment on vehicle performance under crash test conditions.