- Prices might go up by Rs 800-1,000
- This is to incentivise electric two-wheelers
- Government aims to bring a million electric two-wheelers in the next 2-3 years
The prices of petrol-powered two-wheelers are likely to increase slightly as the Government is planning to impose green tax on them. The acquired tax will be utilised in subsidising the development and production of electric two-wheelers. As for the price hike, each petrol two-wheeler is likely to become expensive by around Rs 800-1,000.
The government is aiming at encouraging development and sales of electric two-wheelers and ultimately seeing one million such vehicles plying on the Indian roads in the next 2-3 years. The sales of electric two-wheelers have been on a steady rise with each passing year. However, it is way too low as compared to the sales of gasoline-powered bikes and scooters which crossed the milestone of 21 million units in 2018.
Currently, the electric scooters which deliver high power and range lie on the premium side. This has created a huge price gap between electric and combustion two-wheelers. According to an official, the government is aiming at reducing this price gap. To achieve this, the components required in manufacturing electric two-wheelers such as batteries, motors and controllers will have to be manufactured locally, a majority of which are currently imported.
Apart from the hike due to green tax, prices of two-wheelers are set to increase due to upcoming BS VI emission norms as well as safety norms, the latter will be operational from 1 April 2019.
Source – ETauto
