Due to the growing importance of safety parameters, India will see seven vehicle testing facilities which includes crash testing labs coming up in 2017. The facilities are built at a cost of Rs 3,700 crore will come up in Manesar, Bengaluru, Rai Bareli, Silchar, Indore, Pune and Chennai. The decision comes at a right time when car buyers are finally paying more attention to safety factor in cars.
The new facilities have been set up by National Automotive Testing and Research and Development Infrastructure Project (NATRIP). This will help in giving star ratings for vehicles based on passenger and pedestrian safety features. New models will have to mandatorily undergo frontal and side car crash tests by October 2017 and 2019 for the current models. Reports indicate that the government is also in the process of setting up Bharat National Car Assessment Programme (B-NCAP) on the lines of Global National Car Assessment Programme which will help in introducing European car safety features in India.
Cars in the country will earn five star rating only if they offer airbags, ABS and speed-warning systems as standard equipment. Given the rising number of fatal accidents in the country, the new mandatory safety parameters will help save lives. Along with helping customers in making right decisions, it will also encourage manufacturers to offer safety features as standard across their model range in the country.
