India could soon see driver less cars on its roads as proposed amendments to the motor vehicles law will empower the government to permit the testing of such vehicles, an area in which companies such as Google, Tesla, and Uber are heavily engaged.
The government will allow testing of these vehicles on a case-by-case basis once the law is in place.
The move will allow Indian carmakers and technology firms to join the global race to develop self-driving cars. Tata Elxsi, the Tata Group’s design, and technology firm, has been planning to test driverless cars.
Once cleared, any innovation in transport sectors such as semi-autonomous and fully autonomous vehicles, both passenger and commercial, could be tested in India.
Such tests will require the permission of the transport department of the union roads ministry.
Globally, car makers and technology companies including Tesla Motors, China’s Baidu, Google, Uber, Mercedes, Ford and General Motors are working on driver less cars, which are already being tested on city roads across the world.
