Level 2 advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) features such as automatic emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assistance and blind-spot warning, while requiring the driver to remain attentive and in control which have already travelled from ₹30 lakh-plus vehicles to upper variants of the Honda Amaze compact sedan at around ₹9.39 lakh and the Mahindra XUV 3XO sub-four-metre compact SUV at roughly ₹11.99 lakh.
Now, a roughly 40% fall in the hardware bill for these systems in just 12 months, to $220-280 from $380-450, could propel the next leg into entry level base variants to mid-level trims for small and compact cars and sub compact SUVs sold in far larger volumes.
Dr. Hanif Qureshi, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industries, said the changing economics could broaden access to automotive safety technology.
“Hardware costs are dropping, solid-state LiDAR units moving below $400 and camera modules falling under $20. This means safety features once reserved for luxury vehicles are now available across mass-market segments,” Qureshi said.
Hardware gets cheaper
Over the past year, solid-state LiDAR prices have fallen 40-45% to $350-400 from $600-800, short-range radar 35-40% to $16-20 from $28-35 and HD camera modules 35-40% to $12-18 from $22-30. High-compute ADAS controllers have become about 30% cheaper at $250-350, down from $450-600.
The decline is part of a longer technology-cost reset. Early mechanical LiDAR units could cost roughly $5,000-10,000 or more in 2019-20, compared with about $350-400 for newer solid-state units today, though the technologies aren’t strictly comparable.
Lower costs give automakers more room to offer active-safety technology on high-volume models, while buyers could get ADAS without paying for the most expensive trims. Component suppliers could benefit too: falling unit prices can be offset by increasing camera, radar, electronics and software content per vehicle.
Bharat NCAP adds another incentive. As active-safety technologies assume a greater role in India’s vehicle-safety assessment, cheaper sensors and computing could lower the cost of equipping high-volume models with functions such as AEB and help manufacturers pursue stronger safety scores.
More than an AI race
Cost, however, is only one part of the problem. “Most people think autonomous driving starts with AI models, but AI is useless if a car cannot accurately perceive reality. No single sensor is enough for ADAS,” Additional Secretary Qureshi said.
Each sensor has different strengths and weaknesses. Cameras recognise lanes, signs and objects but can be affected by glare; radar measures distance and relative speed but offers less visual detail; LiDAR builds a three-dimensional picture but can degrade in dense fog; and ultrasonic sensors cover close-range manoeuvres.
“Ultimately, the race toward autonomy won’t be won by the car with the flashiest AI model, but by the system that masters the seamless fusion of hardware, perception, and perhaps the most important, the human trust,” Qureshi said.
India’s tougher test
That challenge is particularly relevant in India, where ADAS must contend with pedestrians, two-wheelers and heterogeneous traffic, inconsistent lane markings and conditions ranging from glare and monsoon spray to winter fog.
Automakers therefore face a technology-and-cost choice: use falling hardware prices to combine multiple sensors for greater redundancy, or rely on increasingly capable camera-led systems to keep costs still lower.
For Qureshi, the ultimate measure isn’t how close a car gets to driving itself. “As these technologies transition from luxury flagships to everyday mass-market vehicles, the real measure of success won’t just be kilometres driven hands-free, it will be zero preventable collisions on India’s roads,” he said..
Published on August 27, 2026
