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November 4, 2026 — New Delhi
India's Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has published draft amendments that would require Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS) on every new passenger car model launched from October 1, 2030, and on all M1 passenger cars sold in the country by October 2032. The proposed changes — covering emergency lane keeping, automatic steering, child-seat anchorages, driver drowsiness detection, and steering effort — represent one of the broadest safety overhauls ever proposed for the Indian market.
The draft, issued as G.S.R. 904(E), appeared in the Gazette of India on October 22, 2026, and is open for stakeholder comments for 30 days. It is a proposal, not yet a binding mandate.
The centerpiece is the phased AEB requirement. M1-category vehicles — passenger cars with up to eight seats in addition to the driver's seat — must be fitted with an AEBS that complies with the Indian standard AIS-185.
That 2028 date is easy to miss but important. Any car built with AEB before the mandate takes effect will have to meet the same technical standard. In other words, the era of automakers offering AEB with proprietary, non-certified calibration ends three years before installation becomes compulsory.
The US market is a useful reference point. NHTSA's FMVSS No. 127, finalized in April 2024, requires automatic emergency braking and pedestrian AEB on nearly all new light vehicles under 10,000 pounds, with compliance due for most vehicles by September 1, 2029.
India's October 2030 new-model deadline follows just over a year later — a remarkably short gap given that India has historically trailed Western markets by years on safety equipment. The difference is in the phasing: US rules apply to essentially all newly manufactured vehicles at once, while India allows existing models an extra two years. That staggered approach is a concession to automakers whose current platforms were designed before AEB was a realistic consideration for entry-level pricing.
Europe already mandates AEB on new passenger car types under UN R152, so for global platforms the Indian standard mostly presents a calibration and certification exercise rather than a design revolution. The radar, software, and braking hardware developed for other markets can be reused; AIS-185 tuning, sensor placement, and validation testing cannot be skipped.
The draft draws a hard line between private passenger cars and vehicles registered as transport vehicles. For M1 transport vehicles manufactured from October 1, 2029, three systems would become mandatory:
For all other M1 vehicles manufactured from October 1, 2027, the draft also specifies that if these technologies are already installed, they must meet the relevant standards. This "compliance-if-fitted" clause does not force private cars to add the hardware, but it closes the loophole that would allow automakers to sell nonstandard, unverified systems.
A broader steering rule sits in the same draft: from October 1, 2027, the steering effort of vehicles manufactured in India must comply with AIS-193. The standard excludes motorcycles, invalid carriages, and three-wheelers without steering wheels.
Child-safety hardware gets similar treatment. M1 passenger vehicles equipped with ISOFIX anchorages, top tether anchorages, or i-Size seating positions must comply with AIS-182 — by October 1, 2027, for new models, and October 1, 2028, for all models. This applies to vehicles that already carry ISOFIX fittings; it is not a universal requirement to add them.
New M1 models also face luggage-retention standards under IS 15546:2005 from April 1, 2028, and all M1 models from October 1, 2028 — a quieter addition meant to keep cargo from becoming projectiles in a crash.
The ministry did not estimate the per-vehicle cost of compliance. That number will depend heavily on segment. For a mass-market compact car built around the lowest possible bill of materials, adding radar, a camera, and an electronically controlled braking unit is expensive. For a premium SUV that already ships with ADAS in other markets, the marginal cost shrinks to software, validation, and certification.
The supply-side picture is clearer. Companies with strong India operations in radar, cameras, and braking — Bosch, Continental, ZF, and US-based suppliers such as Aptiv and Mobileye (now part of Intel) — are obvious beneficiaries. Indian engineering centers, including GM's and Ford's technical operations in Bengaluru, also have the ADAS skill base to support global programs built around the Indian standard.
There is a longer-term export angle, too. Indian-built cars from Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata, and Mahindra already ship to Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. If local rules force cheaper vehicles to carry AEB as standard equipment, Indian plants could become a source of compliance-ready small cars for other emerging markets at only a modest price premium over today's export models.
Tesla, meanwhile, has spent years circling the Indian market, with recent reports pointing to showroom preparations in New Delhi and Mumbai. A 2030 AEB mandate would apply comfortably to Tesla's existing product line, which has shipped with AEB hardware for more than a decade.
Domestic automakers, through the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, have historically urged workable transition periods rather than objecting to safety technology itself. The two-year gap between the new-model and all-model dates — 2030 and 2032 — looks like a direct response to that concern.
The more immediate issue is product development timing. An automaker planning a new model for an October 2030 launch would typically need to freeze AEB architecture and begin AIS-185 validation by 2027 or 2028. That means engineering decisions made over the next 24 months will determine whether each brand has its lineup in order by the deadline.
The government is accepting objections and suggestions from any stakeholder. The comment period runs 30 days from the October 22 Gazette publication, meaning submissions are due by approximately November 21, 2026.
Feedback can be sent to the Additional Secretary (MVL, Transport & Road Safety), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Transport Bhawan, New Delhi, or by email to the address published in G.S.R. 904(E).
Following review, the ministry will issue a final notification. Past Indian safety mandates — from ABS and dual airbags to reverse parking sensors — have been adjusted during this consultation phase, so timelines are not carved in stone. The direction, however, is unmistakable: India is preparing to move from an era of minimum crash-protection rules to one where active safety systems are the baseline, and it intends to arrive there in roughly four years.
