NEW DELHI: Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road, Transport, and Highways, announced on Friday that he has finalised criteria for bus body construction that will be uniformly applied to both OEMs and bus body builders. The government minister claimed in a post on X that this action will open the door for more advancements in India’s bus quality, with a particular emphasis on ensuring passenger safety in emergency situations. “It is urgent to improve the quality of bus body construction in Bharat given the rising number of bus accidents,” I’ve now given my approval to guidelines for building bus bodies, which OEMs and bus body builders must follow uniformly. This action will open the door for more advancements in the standard of buses in India, with a particular emphasis on maintaining passenger safety in emergency situations, according to Gadkari. “I hope that all stakeholders will support this initiative to ensure the safety of all bus occupants,” he stated. According to the most recent National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, which was issued in 2022, buses were to blame for roughly 3% of all accidents in India.
