Indian Government Planning to Ban Sale of Sub-150cc Bikes & Scooters

The Indian government is planning to put an end on the sale of sub-150cc bikes and scooters starting from the year 2025. The government wants the automobile companies to replace the sub-150cc two-wheelers with all-electric vehicles. The government is also planning to replace the fuel-powered 3-wheelers with electric 3-wheelers by 2023.

All these steps can be taken by the Indian government in order to reduce the rising levels of pollution in all major cities across the country. The 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers combined have an annual sale of more than 2 crore units, which can be held responsible for more than three-quarters of the traffic on Indian roads.

The government has provided the auto industry with a window of 4-6 years to ensure that they get enough time to recover the investment that they will be pumping into the manufacturing of BSVI-compliant vehicles as BS6 emission norms will come into effect from April 1, 2020. Also, the CEO of Niti Aayog, Amitabh Kant, is likely to propose similar deadlines for delivery vehicles, school buses, and inter-city buses to go all-electric within the next 4-5 years.

The Indian government is going to introduce BSVI emission norms directly after BSIV so that pollution in the country can be controlled. The proposal for the ban on sub-150cc two-wheelers would be a step ahead in this mission. The committee has also pushed for doubling direct subsidy on electric three-wheelers to INR 20,000 per kWh to make them affordable in comparison to those running on fuel.

Two years back in September 2017, Nitin Gadkari, the transport and highway minister said that the government will push the auto sector to move to an alternative fuel. The work has already begun to create charging infrastructure, as the electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers will result in about INR 50,000 crore investment in battery manufacturing and storage.

According to some officials, switching to electric mode will provide an opportunity for the Indian automobile sector to emerge as a global hub. The existing facilities will be used to export automobiles to other countries. Till now, there is no such confirmation that the government will offer any concession to automakers but some of it would be reserved for battery manufacturers. Also, with the help of benefits through the FAME II scheme, the battery manufacturers would be able to capture the 81% of the value creation.

The official confirmation of all the above-mentioned information is still awaited by the government ministry but this step could mark towards a huge change in the two-wheeler and three-wheeler segment in the Indian market. A lot of brands have already started working on all-electric 2-wheelers like the TVS-backed Ultraviolette, Ather Energy, Gugu Energy, Tork Motorcycles, and Revolt Motorcycles, to name a few.

Update Source: Times of India