Indian automobiles will soon be assigned safety ratings, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said.

The draft version of the notification for Bharat NCAP — a crash test programme — has been approved by the government. Under the new car assessment programme (NCAP), automobiles will be given star ratings based on their performance in crash tests. “I have now approved the draft general statutory rules notification for Bharat NCAP,” Gadkari said in a tweet.

“Bharat-NCAP will serve as a consumer-centric platform, allowing customers to opt for safer cars based upon their star ratings, while promoting healthy competition among original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India to manufacture safer vehicles,” he said.

Manufacturers conduct crash tests voluntarily at their research centres or would send cars to independent agencies such as the NCAP in the UK to get the star ratings.

The road transport and highways minister stressed that star ratings of Indian cars based on crash tests are extremely crucial not only to ensure structural and passenger safety in cars, but to also increase the export-worthiness of Indian automobiles.

The testing protocol of Bharat NCAP shall be aligned with the global crash-test protocols factoring in the existing Indian regulations, allowing OEMs to get their vehicles tested at India’s own inhouse testing facilities, Gadkari said.

Bharat NCAP will prove to be a critical instrument in making the automobile industry Aatmanirbhar with the mission of making India the to automobile hub, he said.