Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said the government was preparing for the second phase of Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP), which would come into force in October 2027.Addressing the 66th SIAM Annual Convention, Gadkari said the vehicle safety assessment programme would be expanded in its next phase to include accident avoidance, pedestrian protection and post-crash response.“We are going ahead with making Bharat NCAP 2. This is a very important programme [which will be] valid from October 2027,” he said.The next phase is expected to cover a wider range of safety criteria. Instead of focusing primarily on occupant protection during a collision, the programme would assess the entire crash chain, Gadkari said.“We are going to evaluate the entire crash chain while identifying three broad areas: avoiding a crash, pedestrian protection, and post-crash evacuation and care,” he said.The government would also examine safety solutions developed by Indian start-ups and new technologies available globally, he said.Gadkari also urged automobile manufacturers to submit recommendations based on their technical expertise, research and safety practices followed in other markets.“If you have any good suggestions, don’t hesitate, come to us,” he said.To make the car safety testing programme more comprehensive and stringent, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had proposed new regulations for the next phase of Bharat NCAP under AIS-197 (Revision 1) in November 2025.Under the proposed system, a car’s score would be based on five parameters: collision protection (55 points), protection of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users (20 points), safe driving features (10 points), accident-avoidance technology (10 points) and post-crash safety (five points).The criteria for a five-star safety rating would also become more stringent. From 2027, a car would have to score at least 70 out of 100 to qualify for a five-star rating. The minimum score would be raised to 80 points by 2029.