ARAI initiative aims to accelerate ADAS adoption across vehicle segments amid 1.5 lakh annual road deaths
12 Feb 2026 | 404 Views | By Anurag Chaturvedi and Darshan Nakhwa
The Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has built a Rs 40-crore test facility in Pune to calibrate Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) for Indian road conditions, addressing a critical gap as the technology filters down from premium to mass market vehicles.
The facility aims to solve a challenge ...
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The Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has built a Rs 40-crore test facility in Pune to calibrate Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) for Indian road conditions, addressing a critical gap as the technology filters down from premium to mass market vehicles.
The facility aims to solve a challenge global automakers have faced in India's diverse traffic environment. ADAS features designed for European roads, particularly Automatic Emergency Braking, have not worked optimally for Indian consumers, highlighting the need for India-specific validation.
"A feature that people are looking ahead as something that is going to bring customer satisfaction is not being readily seen, but just as a selling point as of now. But if it is not good, this may not be a good selling point in the coming days," said Dr Reji Mathai, Director of ARAI, during a fireside chat at The ADAS Show in Pune.
India records 1.5 lakh road fatalities annually—"like a plane crash every day," Mathai said, emphasising the urgency of making active safety technology effective for local conditions.
ARAI's test city simulates scenarios not included in international standards: four-lane merging into two lanes, S-curves, non-perpendicular crossings, parking areas for autonomous vehicles, and roads with and without lane markings. The organisation is developing India-specific crash test dummies representing auto-rickshaws and three-wheelers—vehicles not included in ISO standards but integral to Indian traffic.
The facility, delayed from its December target due to five months of continuous rain, is operational for trials, though still under final development.
Data, Infrastructure Gaps Slow Adoption
Mathai said ARAI has completed 30,000-40,000 kilometres of data acquisition but faces challenges in processing terabytes of daily data, including privacy concerns about faces and number plates captured during testing.
Beyond technology, infrastructure standardisation remains critical. Mathai noted that countries with successful ADAS deployment have aligned automobile regulations—discussed at the UN's WP29 forum—with infrastructure standards under WP1. India needs similar coordination, he said, suggesting the government identify specific geographies for standardised demonstrations.
"The best accident is one that never happens at all," Mathai said, contrasting active safety systems like ADAS with passive safety measures like crash ratings. "This facility is going to democratize ADAS, which you will see filtering down even to mass market cars."
BNCAP 2.0, expected from 2027, will incorporate ADAS features in safety ratings, potentially accelerating adoption as manufacturers compete beyond basic regulatory compliance. Mathai identified vehicle-to-vehicle communication as the next breakthrough, enabling cars to activate safety features based on real-time warnings from other vehicles.
On whether ADAS would reach all vehicle segments, Mathai drew a parallel with airbags, which evolved from luxury features to standard equipment across price points.
"ADAS features are invariably going to be there in vehicles whether you like it or not," he said. "How useful and customer-friendly they are—that is where it will see how fast it proliferates. And I am sure this facility is going to play a vital role in making it customer-friendly, practical and relevant for this market."