IIT Delhi’s Atal Incubation Centre, Honda launch Bharat Road Safety programme

Atal Incubation Centre (AIC), IIT Delhi Innovation Foundation, in collaboration with Honda India Foundation, inaugurated the ‘Bharat Safety – Road Safety and Mobility Innovation Programme’ at IIT Delhi Technopark (I-TEC), Sonepat.

The initiative aims to foster deep-tech innovations that can significantly reduce India’s two-wheeler accident fatalities and contribute to the nation’s long-term vision of achieving a 50 per cent reduction in road accident rates by 2030.

The inaugural symposium brought together senior leaders from government, academia, industry, and the startup ecosystem. The distinguished speakers including, Professor Somnath Baidya Roy, Dean (Planning), IIT Delhi; Vinay Dhingra, Trustee, Honda India Foundation; Dr Bipin Kumar, Associate Professor, IIT Delhi; Dr Shobhit Mathur, Vice-Chancellor, Rishihood University; Vishal Sharma, Policy Expert, Startup Haryana; Dr Vibhuti Aggarwal, General Partner, Real Time Angel Fund, and Dr Atul Kumar Singh, Project Consultant, CRF IIT Delhi. The session was moderated by Alok Pandey, CEO, AIC, IIT Delhi.

Speaking at the launch, the panel collectively highlighted the urgent need for technology-driven, affordable, and scalable solutions to improve road safety in India, particularly for two-wheeler riders who account for the highest share of road fatalities nationwide.

The Bharat Safety Innovation Programme will support five deep-tech startups working on collision prevention and rider-assist technologies, helmet compliance and smart protective gear, behaviour analytics, speed management, AI-based enforcement, night-time visibility and low-cost safety retrofitting solutions.

Honda India Foundation reaffirmed Honda’s global vision of achieving zero traffic collision fatalities involving a Honda vehicle by 2050 and expressed confidence in India’s potential to lead innovation-driven mobility safety solutions.

“Road safety is a national priority, and innovation must be at the heart of this transformation. Through the Bharat Safety Programme, we aim to bring breakthrough technologies from labs to real-world deployment and support India’s mission of saving lives on the road,” Alok Pandey stated.

The initiative marks a significant collaboration between academia, industry, and government, positioning the programme as a national model for innovation-led mobility safety.

India continues to face a serious road safety challenge, recording the highest number of road accident deaths in the world. As per World Road Statistics (2024) published by the International Road Federation, India topped the list of countries on road fatalities, with 1,68,491 deaths, and ranked number 2 in the total number of road accidents. The fatality rate stands at 11.89 deaths per lakh people, highlighting the need for urgent, technology-driven interventions.