The Minister Of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) - Nitin Gadkari is quite famed for his determination towards progress and advancement of the Indian auto market and for setting some ambitious targets as well. Be it 100 per cent electrification, adopting alternative fuel such as CNG or ethanol or regularising emission norms, Gadkari has been quite vocal on these matters and has taken steps in the direction of achieving his targets as well. Now his next move is to make vehicles in India even safer and so after implementation of mandatory fitment of two airbags for all four-wheelers, the minister is now planning to mandate six airbags in all cars.
Nitin Gadkari has been quite vocal about mandating six airbags in India.
Now there's been an argument that India is a price sensitive market where sales of entry-level models get impacted even with a subtle revision in cost. That said, reports say that adding four more airbags for rear seat passengers will not cost more than Rs. 8000 -Rs. 9000 including the cost of modification. An airbag generally costs around Rs. 1800 and the modification in the structure will cost around Rs. 500. Then, there are cost of inflating tool and labour cost as well which will be in addition. According to industry estimates, offering six airbags in entry-level models would increase their cost by around Rs. 30,000 covering all costs.
Last year in August, Nitin Gadkari also took to Twitter to share his views on mandating six airbags in cars and had said that in the interest of passenger safety, he appealed all Private Vehicle Manufacturers to compulsorily provide a minimum of six airbags across all variants and segments of the vehicle. The move also favours Global NCAP's 'Safer Cars For India' campaign and promotes a safe motoring culture in India. In fact, several developed markets do not get side airbags as mandatory fitment but they do play a crucial role in meeting the crash test and safety requirements.
