India clears way for self-driving, safety car tech to reduce road deaths

India has scrapped a licence requirement for radar sensors, freeing automakers to adopt technology that helps cars avoid crashes and drive themselves by sensing surrounding objects, in a bid to ‌make some ⁠of the ⁠world's deadliest roads safer.

The world's third largest car market, India reported more than 177,000 deaths in nearly half a million road accidents in 2024, the latest figures show.

In a notice on Thursday, the government waived the licence requirement for radar sensors ⁠operating in ‌the frequency band from 77GHz to 81 GHz. That lets companies enable the technology ⁠without the government having to separately assign the airwaves.

Automakers Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, stand to benefit from the change, as well the suppliers behind them, such as Germany's Bosch and Continental.

The radar sensors let a car gauge safe distances, and drive features ‌such as emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and blindspot warnings, to form a basis for autonomous driving.

The change ⁠brings India in line with the United States, the European Union and a global telecoms standard, all of which dedicate the same frequency band to vehicle radar.

That lets carmakers and suppliers tap into the same off-the-shelf hardware worldwide, rather than having to build an India-specific version.