Driverless Cars Will Not be Allowed in India, Says Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari

Many companies including Tesla led by Elon Musk already introduced the car in many western countries.

Updated: July 25, 2017 12:31 AM IST

By Ravi Kaushal

Tesla
(FILE PHOTO)

New Delhi, July 24: Fearing Joblessness after the introduction of the driverless cars in the country, Union Cabinet Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said the Ministry of Transport will not permit such cars in India. Gadkari added the government will emphasise on imparting necessary skills to the drivers. He said the government will focus on training drivers as adequate driving skills can provide employment to about 50 lakh people.

Gadkari was quoted by PTI as saying, “We will not allow driver-less cars in India. India suffers a huge shortage of 22 lakh drivers.Cab aggregators take advantage of these. We are not going to promote any technology or policy that will render people jobless.”

Importantly, many companies including Tesla led Elon Musk already introduced the car in many western countries.

Autopilot Full Self-Driving Hardware (Neighborhood Short) from Tesla, Inc on Vimeo.

He said the government is planning to introduce a cab aggregator platform where commuters could choose any mode of transportation like electric four-wheeler taxis or two- wheelers. The government will only be a facilitator in this but the platform will bring in more competition and help commuters to have affordable public transportation.

Adding further, Gadkari said the government will promote electric vehicles but would not allow its imports and rather would urge all major automobile companies to manufacture this as per ‘Make in India’ drive. Besides, the government is also planning to introduce and make GPS and satellite tracking mandatory in all public and private vehicles. [Read: Woman Bike Rider From Mumbai Crushed to Death After Hitting Pothole in Maharashtra]

This apart, plans were afoot to transform public transportation in the country and replace 1.8 lakh buses across the states with luxury buses, the minister said.

“Talks are on with World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help India to replicate the London Transport Authority Model where all the public transportation buses would be replaced by luxury buses and a common man can travel in them by paying about 40 per cent less price as compared to current fares,” said Gadkari.

(With inputs from PTI)

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