5-Star Bharat NCAP SUVs Under Rs 25 Lakh and What Each Rating Covers (2026)

Twenty-six Bharat NCAP results give 5 stars for both adult and child occupant protection to an SUV with at least one variant under Rs 25 lakh, covering twenty-seven models, because the Tata Safari and Harrier share a single rating. The Tata Harrier.ev and Mahindra XEV 9e share a perfect 32 out of 32 for adults, the Mahindra BE 6 is next at 31.97, and the Tata Punch is the cheapest of the lot from Rs 5,74,990.

The badge is the easy part. What almost nobody checks is the ratings applicability grid that Bharat NCAP publishes underneath every result, which names the engines, gearboxes and trims the stars actually extend to. On seven of these twenty-six SUVs that grid leaves out a powertrain you can walk into a showroom and buy today, and the Maruti Victoris and Maruti Brezza are two of them.

What the applicability grid is, and why it matters

Each bncap.in vehicle page carries two separate things. "Tested Vehicle Model & Variant" names the one or two cars physically crashed. "Ratings Applicability" is a grid of engine families against trims, listing every variant the result extends to, and it is usually much wider than the tested car.

Every one of those grids carries the same disclaimer: the list "do[es] not represent the complete vehicle model family". In other words, a variant absent from the grid is not covered, and the manufacturer is not claiming it is.

Adult occupant protection is scored out of 32 from a frontal offset and a side impact, child occupant protection out of 49 from dynamic tests plus child seat installation and vehicle provisions, and the two get separate star counts. Everything below has 5 stars for both.

All twenty-six results, and what each rating leaves out

SUV	Adult / 32	Child / 49	What the rating does not cover
Tata Harrier.ev	32.00	45.00	Nothing; both RWD and AWD are listed
Mahindra XEV 9e	32.00	45.00	Only Pack One, Two and Three B59 and Three B79 are listed
Mahindra BE 6	31.97	45.00	Only Pack One, Two and Three B59 and Three B79 are listed
Kia Seltos	31.70	45.00	Nothing; petrol, turbo petrol and diesel are all in
Maruti Victoris	31.66	43.00	S-CNG. The hybrid column also starts at VXI, not LXI
Maruti e Vitara	31.49	43.00	Nothing; Delta 49 kWh, Zeta and Alpha 61 kWh are all listed
Hyundai Venue	31.15	44.46	Nothing, though Bharat NCAP files the Venue as a station wagon
Tata Sierra	31.14	44.73	Nothing; petrol, TGDi and diesel, manual, DCA and AT
Mahindra Thar Roxx	31.09	45.00	Every petrol four-wheel-drive variant
Tata Punch.ev 2026	31.09	45.00	Nothing in the current range
Skoda Kylaq	30.88	45.00	Classic automatic
Tata Curvv.ev	30.81	44.83	Nothing; both battery packs are listed
Mahindra XUV 7XO	30.76	44.97	All-wheel drive except two diesel automatics
Tata Punch	30.58	45.00	Nothing; the CNG family is covered and was crash tested
Renault Duster	30.49	45.00	Iconic trim on the 1.0 turbo
Nissan Tekton	30.49	45.00	Nothing, but see the note below on how it got the rating
Maruti Brezza	30.41	43.00	S-CNG. The 1.5 automatic also starts at VXI
Mahindra XUV 400 EV	30.38	43.00	Curtain airbags are optional, not standard
Kia Syros	30.21	44.42	The 1.5 diesel
Tata Safari and Harrier	30.08	44.54	Nothing since December 2025, when petrol was added
Tata Nexon.ev	29.86	44.95	Nothing across the long and medium range families
Tata Curvv	29.50	43.66	TGDi petrol and diesel DCA are covered only from June 2026
Tata Nexon	29.41	43.83	iCNG. No CNG family appears in the grid
Mahindra XUV 3XO	29.36	43.00	Nothing since the October 2026 revision added the REVX trims
VinFast VF7	28.54	45.25	Nothing; all five trims listed
VinFast VF6	27.13	44.41	The Sky trim, which the grid does not list

Scores read from bncap.in on 15 October 2026. The VF7's 45.25 is the highest child score in the whole Bharat NCAP register.

The gaps worth knowing before you sign

Maruti Victoris and Maruti Brezza: no CNG. Both grids list a gasoline family and nothing else. The Victoris covers the 1.5 petrol manual from LXI up, the 1.5 automatic from VXI up and the strong hybrid from VXI up, and the Brezza covers the 1.5 manual, the 1.5 automatic and the 1.0 turbo manual. The S-CNG variants, which are among the best-selling versions of both cars, sit outside. If you want a CNG SUV whose crash result genuinely applies to the CNG car, the Tata Punch is the one: its grid carries a CNG family and Bharat NCAP crash tested it in CNG form.

Kia Syros: no diesel. The grid lists only the 1.0 turbo-petrol family, in 6MT and 7DCT. The 1.5 diesel is a different car as far as the rating is concerned.

Mahindra Thar Roxx: no petrol four-wheel drive. The gasoline columns are rear-wheel drive only. Diesel four-wheel drive is covered; petrol four-wheel drive is not, which is an awkward gap on a car bought for exactly that.

Mahindra XUV 7XO: almost no all-wheel drive. Petrol and diesel, manual and automatic, six and seven seats are all in. The diesel automatic AWD column contains two trims, the AX7T and AX7L seven-seaters, and nothing else.

Tata Nexon: no iCNG. Petrol and diesel across manual, AMT and DCA run to fifty-odd rows. There is no CNG family anywhere in the grid, although Tata sells the Nexon iCNG.

Skoda Kylaq: not the Classic automatic. Manual covers Classic, Signature, Signature+ and Prestige; automatic starts at Signature.

Mahindra XUV 400 EV: curtain airbags are optional. Every other 5-star SUV here carries Bharat NCAP's standard note that the airbags are fitted across the range. The XUV 400 EV's page says select variants only, so the car you buy may leave the showroom with two.

Three ratings that are not quite what they look like

The Nissan Tekton holds 5 stars without having been crash tested. Bharat NCAP's own note on the page says the Tekton is a corporate twin of the Renault Duster, that the safety equipment and structure are identical, and that the rating is based on the Duster's assessment. Its tested-variant field literally reads Renault Duster. That is a legitimate provision rather than a loophole, but it is worth knowing that the two cars share one crash test and one identical pair of scores, 30.49 and 45.00.

The Tata Punch.ev has two ratings. The 2024 result scored 31.46 for adults, and its rating period is shown as closed, May 2024 to February 2026, with a VIN cut-off. The car on sale now is the Punch.ev 2026 at 31.09. Quoting the higher number for a car you can buy today would be wrong, and it happens often.

The Hyundai Venue is filed by Bharat NCAP as a station wagon, not an SUV. Hyundai sells it as a compact SUV, the body is the body, and the 31.15 and 44.46 scores stand either way. It is only a classification quirk, but it explains why the Venue goes missing from some lists.

What did not make the list

The Citroen C3 Aircross five-seater earns 5 stars for adults at 27.05, the lowest 5-star adult score in the register, but 40.00 for children, which is 4 stars. This list requires 5 stars for both. Its rating also covers the five-seat variants only, not the seven-seater.

The Citroen Basalt is 4 stars for adults at 26.19, missing 5 stars by 0.81 points.

The Hyundai Tucson scored 30.84 and 41.00, but its rating period ran from November 2024 to September 2025 and has ended, and it sits above the ceiling anyway.

Everything else is unrated. MG, BYD and Volkswagen have no Bharat NCAP result for any vehicle. Nor do the Hyundai Creta, Creta Electric and Exter, the Kia Sonet and Carens Clavis, the Skoda Kushaq, the Renault Kiger, the Nissan Magnite, the Mahindra Scorpio N and XEV 9S, the Tata Sierra.ev, or Toyota's Urban Cruiser Hyryder and Taisor. An unrated car is not an unsafe car, but it is an untested one.

How this list was built

Ratings come only from bncap.in, read on 15 October 2026 from the vehicle safety ratings register and each model's own page. Scores are taken from the page, and the coverage column from the raw applicability table, which does not appear in the page's readable text.

Price qualification means at least one variant covered by the rating is listed under Rs 25 lakh, ex-showroom. Maruti, Tata, Mahindra, Hyundai and Toyota publish ex-showroom prices; Kia, Skoda, Renault, Nissan and VinFast do not publish a variant-level list that can be read, so this article names their variants without quoting figures for them. Mahindra publishes a model range rather than a per-pack price for the BE 6, XEV 9e and XUV 400 EV, and Tata's Safari price page would not render a variant ladder.

For the cheaper half of this field, variant by variant with engines and mileage, see our 5-star Bharat NCAP SUVs under Rs 15 lakh list.

Frequently asked questions

Which SUV under Rs 25 lakh has the best Bharat NCAP score?

Two share it. The Tata Harrier.ev and Mahindra XEV 9e both scored a perfect 32.00 out of 32 for adults and 45 out of 49 for children. Among petrol and diesel SUVs the Kia Seltos leads at 31.70, with the Maruti Victoris next at 31.66.

Does a 5-star rating cover every variant of the car?

No. Bharat NCAP publishes a ratings applicability grid naming the engines, gearboxes and trims the result extends to, and every grid carries a disclaimer that it does not represent the complete model family. Seven of the twenty-six SUVs here exclude a powertrain that is on sale.

Do the Maruti Victoris and Brezza ratings cover their CNG variants?

They do not. Both applicability grids list a gasoline family only. The Victoris S-CNG and Brezza S-CNG are outside the rating, which is the single most useful thing to know about both cars' safety credentials.

Is there a 5-star CNG SUV under Rs 25 lakh?

The Tata Punch. Its grid lists a CNG family alongside the petrol one, and the car Bharat NCAP crashed was a CNG Punch, the Pure+ CNG AMT and Accomplished CNG MT. It is also the cheapest SUV on this list, from Rs 5,74,990.

Why does the Nissan Tekton have the same score as the Renault Duster?

Because it is the same crash test. Bharat NCAP applied the Duster's assessment to the Tekton under its corporate-twin provision, on the basis that structure and safety equipment are identical, so both carry 30.49 and 45.00.

Which of these are electric?

Ten: the Tata Harrier.ev, Nexon.ev, Curvv.ev and Punch.ev 2026, the Mahindra XEV 9e, BE 6 and XUV 400 EV, the Maruti e Vitara and the VinFast VF6 and VF7. The XUV 400 EV is the one to look at twice, because its curtain airbags are optional rather than standard.