Driverless cars won't be allowed in India, says Nitin Gadkari
1 min read 25 Sep 2019, 09:11 AM ISTNitin Gadkari said the country has a shortage of 25 lakh driversHe said he will not let the jobs of 1 crore people be snatched away
PremiumNew Delhi: Automated or driverless cars might be a distant dream for Indians. On Tuesday, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said driverless cars will not be allowed in India because the government will not promote any technology that comes at the cost of jobs.
Self driving cars require minimal or no human intervention.
“Several big personalities from the country met me and said they want to bring driverless vehicles to India. I clearly told them that till I am there, I shall not allow driverless cars in India. I was asked whether I oppose new technology. I said not at all," PTI reported Gadkari as saying at an industry event.
The minister said India has 40 lakh drivers and there is a shortage of 25 lakh drivers. “I will not let the jobs of 1 crore people be snatched away," Gadkari was quoted as saying.
This is not that first time that Gadkari has made such a statement. Two years ago, he had said government will not allow cab aggregators make money by using driving skills.
“Cab aggregators like Ola and Uber are making money by using our driving skills. If cab aggregators think they can make more money by introducing technology like driverless cars and render people unemployed, the government is not going to allow it," he had said.
A KPMG study ranked Netherlands as a country most ready to support driverless cars, followed by Singapore and US. India ranks 20. According to the study, the common factors of most countries adopting driverless cars are government support, great infrastructure, technology and innovation, and consumer acceptance .
“Given the overall socio-economic benefits of autonomous transport and the strong entrepreneurial ecosystem, India could become an important AV (autonomous vehicle) market in the long term. But at present, on technology and innovation it scores minimally for lack of patents and investments and low usage of electric cars," the report said.
