Indian cars close safety gap

Most of the new standards will come into effect from next april.

The government today notified the expanded and amended list of safety standards for automobiles manufactured in the country. The notification is expected to further narrow the gap between Indian and European safety standards in automobiles.

The complete list of existing and modified standards, along with a series of new standards, was notified and will be brought under the legal ambit through amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act and the Central Motor Vehicle Rules.

Of the 40 standards notified, 16 are either fresh standards or modified existing norms. A senior government official in the ministry of surface transport said: "From a gap of 13 years that we used to have between India and Europe in the 90s, today we can claim that the gap is only five years. We expect this to narrow further to four years in the next couple of years."

Most of the standards will come into effect immediately, while the others will be in force from April 1, 2005. Some standards, like those related to survival space for the protection of occupants in the cabin of a vehicle, would take effect in 2008.

The standards have been either benchmarked against the international norms or against those recommended by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

Alok Rawat, joint secretary, ministry of surface transport said: "While there is a time gap between Indian and European standards for the passenger cars, the standards for two-wheelers is possibly the most stringent for vehicles made in India."

The ministry is, however, awaiting more clarity on the child protection standards that are still in a very exploratory stage in Europe. Though the government has taken cognisance of the need for a suitable 'child restraining system (CRS)' in passenger cars, the mode of implementation is still under discussion.

The standards for child protection will be implemented as original equipment fitment and not as retrofit. A small bucket seat, with a strong anchor, would be the best protection option that can be provided in passenger cars for children. The CRS standards are expected to be implemented by 2007.

Automobile industry observers, however, said that while standards were being upgraded to global levels, the government should also work towards setting up an independent regulatory body for safety in automobiles.