- Was reportedly proposed by India’s think tank, Niti Aayog
- All two-wheelers up to 150cc are likely to get an electric motor from 2025
- Combustion two-wheelers only above-150cc will be manufactured
The Indian government’s think tank, Niti Aayog has reportedly put forth a new proposal of electrifying a large segment of two-wheelers in India by April 2025.
The new proposal suggests that the bikemakers should manufacture petrol-powered two-wheelers only with over-150cc of displacement while anything below that should have electric propulsion. This will prevent the bikemakers from manufacturing combustion two-wheelers below-150cc from April 2025. However, the two-wheelers that are registered before the said year will be allowed to be used, as per the reports. The aim of this proposal is to encourage the production and change-over of electric two-wheelers thereby reducing carbon footprint.
During the financial year 2018-19, over two crore units of the conventional two-wheelers were sold in India while the sales of E-powered two-wheelers stood at 1,26,000 units. Although the sales of the latter were too low as compared to the former, it rose from 54,800 units during the fiscal year 2017-18. Being one of the largest two-wheeler markets, India could be one of the major contributors in the adoption of electric two-wheelers and reduction in emissions.
The Indian government is already pushing its efforts of encouraging the production of electric two-wheelers by providing subsidy benefits. After the FAME II (Faster Adoption and Manufacture of Hybrid and Electric vehicles) being operational, electric two-wheeler start-ups such as Ather Energy and Okinawa have reaped the benefits in the form of subsidies which reduced the prices of their E-scooters.
