"Technology can enhance safety of commercial vehicles in India'

Satyakam Arya, the MD and CEO of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles says while the CV industry is the barometer of the economy, it is still unregulated in India. Radhika Dave and Manobhava Baruah report.

- Radhika Dave and Manobhava Baruah

SATYAKAM ARYA was a speaker at the Autocar Professional Road Safety Conclave held this month, and he explained how Daimler India Commercial Vehicles’ (DICV) brand Bharat Benz was working on a plan that aims to deliver 75 percent vehicles in its core markets by 2025, and 80 percent by 2030, equipped with safety systems that surpass legal requirements of the respective markets. Arya sees technology applications as a key driver in enhancing safety benchmarks for Commercial Vehicles and its users.

How can one make roads safer? What is the role of the government, policy makers, enforcement agencies and vehicle makers in order to lower the casualties on Indian roads as well as make driver lives easier?

I think everyone knows how much we lack and are behind compared to the rest of the world when it comes to road safety. And therefore, I believe that this picture will not change unless some things which we have never done are done in the future. So, you talked a lot about the CV industry or the dynamics of the CV industry and structure of CV industry in India and I believe those all are the challenges which we are currently facing. There are also opportunities, if we change the lens and look at it differently.

'We have to chart a roadmap to bring all the key regulations to the Indian market in the next five to seven years, and come at par, if not be better, with the rest of the world'

It is ironic that the CV industry is the barometer of the economy, but it is still quite unregulated. And the drivers which are the unsung heroes of our economy are actually not cared for enough.