Bharat NCAP, India’s car safety standard programme launched along with a logo and star rating stickers, would be implemented from October 1

The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari launched the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP) on Tuesday, 22 August. Along with the launch, the logo for the Bharat NCAP was also revealed. The Bharat NCAP star rating stickers will now be seen soon in cars and the minister has reported that they are hopeful that all cars would have the star rating stickers soon.

According to reports, the authority will implement the Bharat NCAP from October 1, 2023.

For the unversed, the Bharat NCAP is India’s own car safety standard programme, which plans on enhancing the car safety standards of the nation. The Bharat NCAP highly focuses on vehicles which weigh more than 3.5 tonnes.

The aim of the Bharat NCAP is also to develop and work upon the movement and sense of “aatmanirbhar” in the automobile industry.

As part of the tests for Bharat NCAP, vehicles would be cross-tested on the basis of front-impact, side-impact and side-impact pole tests. Reports have stated that many manufacturers in the nation have proceeded to evaluate about 15-20 of their models for the Bharat NCAP programme.

It is to be noted that as of now, the EVs aren’t part of the Bharat NCAP programme yet.

To register for crash tests under the Bharat NCAP programme, manufacturers or importers will first have to submit an application (Form 70-A) to the designated agency under the government. Subsequently, the authority will randomly select cars for the crash test. The process would be undertaken with the involvement of representatives of both the Bharat NCAP team and manufacturers.