Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Program)

Bharat NCAP- Relevance for UPSC Exam

Bharat NCAP: Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) was recently in news. Bharat NCAP is a mechanism to enhance fuel and vehicle efficiency in India. Bharat NCAP will also help in reducing environmental pollution. Bharat NCAP is part of UPSC Mains GS Paper 3(Environment: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation).

Bharat NCAP in News

• Recently, Union minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari has approved the Draft GSR Notification to introduce Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Program).

What is Bharat NCAP?

• About: Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) is a new car safety assessment programme which proposes a mechanism of awarding ‘Star Ratings’ to automobiles based upon their performance in crash tests.
  • Bharat NCAP standard is aligned with global benchmarks and it is beyond minimum regulatory requirements.
• Bharat NCAP Rating: The proposed Bharat NCAP assessment will allocate Star Ratings from 1 to 5 stars.
  • The testing of vehicles for this programme will be carried out at testing agencies, with the necessary infrastructure.
• Implementation: Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) will be rolled out from April 1, 2023.
• Applicability: Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) will be applicable on type approved motor vehicles of category M1 with gross vehicle weight less than 3.5 tonnes, manufactured or imported in the country.
  • M1 category motor vehicles are used for the carriage of passengers, comprising eight seats, in addition to driver’s seat.
• Global Examples: the USA was the first country to introduce a programme for testing the safety standards of a car through crash tests.
  • Presently there are several agencies like Australasian NCAP, ASEAN NCAP, China NCAP, Euro NCAP, Japan NCAP, Korean NCAP and Latin NCAP, doing a similar job for other regions.

Bharat Gaurav Scheme

Significance of Bharat NCAP

• Bharat NCAP rating will provide consumers an indication of the level of protection offered to occupants by evaluating the vehicle in the areas of-
  • Adult occupant protection,
  • Child occupant protection and
  • Safety assist technologies.
• Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP) will serve as a consumer-centric platform, allowing customers to opt for safer cars based upon their Star-Ratings.
• Bharat NCAP will also promote a healthy competition among original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India to manufacture safer vehicles.
• Bharat NCAP will ensure structural and passenger safety in cars, along with increasing the export-worthiness of Indian automobiles.
• Bharat NCAP will prove to be a critical instrument in making our automobile industry Aatmanirbhar with the mission of making India the top automobile hub in the world.

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