India announces new car safety rating to help bring down road deaths

India will have a new safety rating system for passenger cars from October based on tests, including crashes from the front and side, to make its cars and roads safer, the country's Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said on Tuesday.

India, the world's third-largest car market, has some of the deadliest roads on which about 150,000 people died in crashes last year, according to government data.

Under the new system, cars will be assigned a rating of one to five stars based on crash tests and other safety parameters, to help buyers make informed decisions and encourage car makers to upgrade their safety standards.

The move is also expected to bring cars in India in line with global standards, Nitin Gadkari told reporters, when laying out the safety rating system.

“This is going to increase production and profits, and result in more orders not just in the domestic market but also internationally,” Gadkari said.

The government has already received requests to test and certify more than 30 car models from different companies, he said.

Maruti Suzuki said it plans to offer at least three models for testing.

Vikram Gulati, country head and executive vice-president at Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said the system will allow consumers to compare “safety aspects of various products on offer”.

The programme will be voluntary and testing will cost about 6-million rupees (about R1,356,075) compared with the 25-million rupees (about R5,650,324) charged globally, officials said.

“This move eliminates the need and associated costs of testing vehicles outside (India),” said Myung-Sik Sohn, chief sales and business officer at Kia India.