After Tata's 'Five-Star' Performance At Bharat NCAP, Maruti Suzuki Applies For India's Own Vehicle Safety Ratings

India's largest automaker Maruti Suzuki has applied to obtain Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat-NCAP) safety ratings for some of its vehicles, news agency PTI reported citing a senior government official.

This development comes after Tata Motors' SUVs, Safari and Harrier, were awarded 5-star ratings for adult and child occupant protection last year, marking them as the first recipients under Bharat-NCAP.

Bharat-NCAP, which was introduced by the government in August last year, serves as India's independent safety performance assessment for automobiles.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had stated that Bharat-NCAP aligns with top global standards, aiming to enhance road and vehicle safety beyond existing mandatory requirements.

Launched in August 2023, the Bharat NCAP is an indigenous star-rating system for crash testing cars under which vehicles will be assigned between one to five stars indicating their safety in a collision

The programme is modelled on the lines of the Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP), which is a project of the UK-based NGO, Towards Zero Foundation.

The objective of the programme is to help consumers make an informed decision before purchasing a car, thereby spurring demand for safer cars.

The BNCAP rating evaluates vehicles based on three parameters — adult occupant protection (AOP), child occupant protection (COP), and safety assist technologies (SAT).

Car manufacturers and importers are required to apply form 70-A to the agencies designated by the central government.

These agencies will assign star ratings to vehicles per the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 197, based on their performance in the tests.

The responsibility for conducting the crash tests has been entrusted to government testing agencies such as the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), ICAT (International Centre for Automotive Technology), and Global Automotive Research (GAR), among others.

Also Read: Bharat NCAP: The Idea Of Car Crash Test Ratings Explained