The Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) made compulsory two airbags for drivers and passengers on the front seats across all four-wheelers, including cheapest cars. Now, the minister is planning to mandate six airbags in all cars to make Indian vehicles more safer.
Now, there's an argument that India is a price sensitive market where sales are impacted. Adding four more airbags for rear seat passengers will not cost more than ₹ 8000 - ₹ 9000 including the cost of modification. An airbag generally costs around ₹ 1800 and modification will costs you around ₹ 500. Furthermore, there are cost of labour cost and inflating tool. According to estimates, offering 6 airbags will costs you by ₹ 30,000 covering all costs.
Nitin Gadkari shared his views on mandating six airbags in cars and appealed all Private Vehicle Manufacturers to provide a minimum of 6 airbags across all variants and segments of the vehicle.
