The government issues a draft notification, approving a proposal to implement BharatNCAP from April 1, 2023. The union road and transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday has approved the draft notification of the same, he said through his Twitter account.

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BharatNCAP is an indigenous system of vehicle safety rating, which proposes a mechanism wherein automobiles in India shall be accorded 'Star Ratings' based upon their performance in crash tests.

According to the notification, the auto companies will have to apply by filling out the form and will bear the cost of the vehicle with the assessment. These rules will not apply to the vehicles with the center's exemption list, it further read.

The government has invited objections and suggestions from all the stakeholders in 30 days, the notification also said.

In a series of tweets, Gadkari said the 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, while promoting a healthy competition among original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India to manufacture safer vehicles.

"I have now approved the draft GSR notification to introduce Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Program), wherein automobiles in India shall be accorded Star Ratings based upon their performance in crash tests," he said.

The Road Transport and Highways minister stressed that Star Ratings of Indian cars based on crash tests is extremely crucial not only to ensure structural and passenger safety in cars, but to also increase the export-worthiness of Indian automobiles.

The proposed assessment will allocate Star Ratings from 1 to 5 stars.

The initiative is aimed at making mobility safer amid the country witnessing a total of 3,66,138 road accidents during the calendar year 2020, causing 1,31,714 deaths.

Recently, Gadkari had said the government has set a target to reduce 50 per cent road accident deaths by 2024.