During the Rajya Sabha’s Question Hour, the Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, claim that each airbag costs just Rs 800. Government wants to provide airbags for all the people seat inside the car.
वाहनों में 6 एयरबैग और इलेक्ट्रिक वाहनों को बढ़ावा दिए जाने के संबंध में लोकसभा में केन्द्रीय मंत्री श्री @nitin_gadkari जी का उत्तर। #QuestionHour pic.twitter.com/xZp6pfhMig
— Office Of Nitin Gadkari (@OfficeOfNG) August 4, 2022
Government is pushing to make six airbags a mandatory safety feature for all cars sold in India.
The rule is suppos to start from October 2022, but the government is yet to put in the final notification.
The cost of fitting side airbags should be minor, and the curtain airbag needs to be re-engineer if it is not offer already in India or any overseas market in a particular car.
As four additional airbags could demand a premium of around Rs 30,000.
The Baleno is the most affordable car with six airbags and the safety feature is offer from its second-to-top Zeta variant.
This variant demands a hike of Rs 90,000 over the Delta variant, but with a lot of feature additions.
The entire upgrade will also affect entry-level cars, which would get a considerable price hike.
Maruti Suzuki also hint that it is sceptical about the implementation of the six airbags rule.
Mahindra said SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) is in talks with the ministry so that the deadline could be extended to a more acceptable timeline.
