Rating agency ICRA has said that new safety standards for passenger vehicles formulated by the government could potentially boost the airbag market to about Rs 1,900-2,300 crore by FY2019. In an official report, the agency said, foreign players in the Indian market are most likely to be the major beneficiaries, even though some India component makers have entered this space recently.
The new norms will come into effect from October 2017 for new models and October 2018 and 2019 for all existing models. These norms specify that passenger vehicles will receive star ratings based on how they perform under various crash tests and associated parameters. The ICRA says, In order to achieve adequate safety ratings for frontal collision, airbags would become a necessary fitment. We believe this will also open up a sizeable market opportunity (Rs 1,900- Rs 1,300 crore by FY2020) for airbag suppliers as its penetration in PVs could increase exponentially from over 30-35 per cent at present.