India, Feb. 27 -- Safety is no longer an afterthought for Indian car buyers. With Bharat NCAP now crash testing vehicles sold in the country, buyers finally have a standardised benchmark to compare how well cars protect occupants. The programme evaluates adult and child occupant protection through frontal, side and pole impact tests, and awards star ratings based on overall performance. If I had to shortlist five cars purely on the basis of their Bharat NCAP scores, these would be my picks.

Prices start at Rs.18.90 lakh ex-showroom.

The Mahindra BE 6 has emerged as one of the strongest performers under Bharat NCAP. It secured a 5-star rating with impressive scores in both adult and child occupant protection. The structure remained stabl...