Bharat Robotics Unveils Sahayak-1 Humanoid for Indian Industrial Automation - RobotWale News

Indian Startup Launches First Cost-Effective Humanoid for Factory Floors

Bengaluru-based Bharat Robotics officially unveiled Sahayak-1 on October 12, 2024, marking a significant milestone in India’s domestic humanoid robotics sector. The company demonstrated the robot’s capabilities at a press event in the city’s Electronic City industrial hub, highlighting its intended deployment in automotive assembly lines and warehouse logistics. The launch directly addresses the growing demand for affordable automation solutions across India’s rapidly expanding manufacturing corridor.

Technical Specifications and Pricing

Sahayak-1 stands 1.7 meters tall and weighs 65 kilograms, featuring a custom-designed torque-controlled actuator system developed in partnership with IIT Madras. The robot operates on a modular Linux-based architecture and supports ROS 2 for seamless integration with existing factory automation protocols. Bharat Robotics has set the base price at ₹28 lakhs per unit, with tiered licensing options for software updates and maintenance packages. This pricing positions the humanoid as a viable alternative to imported Japanese and South Korean models, which typically retail between ₹60 to ₹80 lakhs in the Indian market. The company also offers a rental model at ₹1.5 lakhs monthly for short-term pilot deployments.

Industry Adoption and Supply Chain Strategy

The launch aligns with the Indian government’s Production Linked Incentive scheme for advanced hardware manufacturing, which provides direct subsidies for domestic robotics developers. Bharat Robotics has secured initial deployment contracts with three mid-sized automotive component manufacturers in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. The company plans to localize 85 percent of its supply chain by 2026, sourcing actuators, sensors, and structural components from Indian MSMEs to reduce dependency on foreign imports. This localization strategy is expected to lower assembly costs by nearly forty percent over the next two years.

Future Roadmap and Market Outlook

Alongside Sahayak-1, Bharat Robotics announced plans to release a software development kit in Q1 2025, enabling Indian system integrators to program custom workflows for pick-and-place, quality inspection, and material handling tasks. Industry analysts project that India’s humanoid robotics market will exceed $450 million by 2028, driven by persistent labor shortages in manufacturing and aggressive automation mandates from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The company intends to scale production to 500 units annually by late 2025 and is currently evaluating export opportunities across Southeast Asia and the Middle East. For enterprise inquiries and pilot program registrations, Bharat Robotics has established a dedicated portal accessible through its official website.