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NEW DELHI: Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday called out the double standards of some car manufacturers who were not providing the safety features in cars sold in India that they were giving in the same models meant for exports.
Gadkari’s remarks came in the backdrop of comments by some carmakers critical of government’s plan to make six airbags mandatory and introduce a voluntary car safety rating, Bharat NCAP. The ministry is yet to come out with the final notifications.
“We have taken a decision for mandatory provision of six airbags in cars, even in the economic models. Now some companies are making cars in India which are not up to the international standards. But they make the same models complying with international norms for the foreign market. I can never understand this,” Gadkari said.
Move part of effort to raise safety: Govt
Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said the move to make six airbags compulsory in all cars was an important part of the effort to make Indian roads safer. “We need to understand the importance of such decisions. When India reports the maximum road crashes and deaths, why are they (automakers) not taking this seriously?” the minister asked while addressing a conference organised by a major IT company in Delhi.
Gadkari said some automobile companies “have been constantly opposing” the six-airbag norm in cars, which has been proposed only to save lives. While announcing the proposal for six airbags, Gadkari had also told Parliament in March that deployment of six functional airbags could have saved 13,000 lives in 2020.
The minister said when there is growth in automobile industry and rise in number of vehicles, it becomes all the more important to see that roads are safer. While India has barely 1% of the vehicles across the globe, it has a dubious distinction of 10% of world’s road deaths.
Gadkari’s remarks came in the backdrop of comments by some carmakers critical of government’s plan to make six airbags mandatory and introduce a voluntary car safety rating, Bharat NCAP. The ministry is yet to come out with the final notifications.
“We have taken a decision for mandatory provision of six airbags in cars, even in the economic models. Now some companies are making cars in India which are not up to the international standards. But they make the same models complying with international norms for the foreign market. I can never understand this,” Gadkari said.
Move part of effort to raise safety: Govt
Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said the move to make six airbags compulsory in all cars was an important part of the effort to make Indian roads safer. “We need to understand the importance of such decisions. When India reports the maximum road crashes and deaths, why are they (automakers) not taking this seriously?” the minister asked while addressing a conference organised by a major IT company in Delhi.
Gadkari said some automobile companies “have been constantly opposing” the six-airbag norm in cars, which has been proposed only to save lives. While announcing the proposal for six airbags, Gadkari had also told Parliament in March that deployment of six functional airbags could have saved 13,000 lives in 2020.
The minister said when there is growth in automobile industry and rise in number of vehicles, it becomes all the more important to see that roads are safer. While India has barely 1% of the vehicles across the globe, it has a dubious distinction of 10% of world’s road deaths.
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