The government intends to make it mandatory for all vehicles — including small cars — to have six airbags, transport minister Nitin Gadkari informed Parliament on Wednesday.

The rule could be made mandatory for all vehicles manufactured after October 1.

As many as 13,022 lives could have been saved in the country in 2020 if there were functional airbags in cars, Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha.

In January, the ministry had approved a draft notification for six airbags in vehicles with up to eight passengers.

The draft notification stated that M1 category vehicles — vehicles that can seat up to eight passengers and weigh under 3.5 tonnes — manufactured after October 1 should be fitted with two front side airbags and two curtain airbags.

The “M1” defines “a motor vehicle used for the carriage of passengers, comprising not more than eight seats in addition to the driver’s seat”.

This category effectively subsumes the bulk of the passenger vehicles — starting with entry-level hatchbacks such as the Suzuki Alto or Hyundai Santro to multi-utility vehicles such as the Toyota Innova or Kia Carnival. These vehicles are employed mostly for private use, alongside some commercial use by fleet operators.

Industry players said they had to raise prices because of higher input costs and the chip shortage. The airbag rule would add to the cost and push back recovery of the sector.

A frontal airbag in an entry-level car costs between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, while side and curtain airbags would double the cost.

Most car makers in India that do offer six airbags do so for the top-end models and in variants that cost upward of Rs 10 lakh.

Analysts said safety features such as twin airbags, ABS and rear wipers add up to Rs 25,000 to the cost.

It is only because they are not mandatory that car manufacturers provide the features in the premium models — and bundle them with other features, thereby making the vehicle costlier by over Rs 1.20 lakh or thereabouts.

The manufacturers, both global and domestic, include the safety features when they sell in the global market but cut down on them in the local market, citing the price sensitivity of the consumers.