Sales of electric bikes rise in Ludhiana amid hike in fuel prices

With prices of petrol inching towards ₹100 a litre mark, sale of electric bicycles, e-scooters and e-rickshaws have increased in Punjab's Ludhiana in the last two-three months. People are option for battery-powered vehicles in order to save on fuel costs.

Bicycle manufacturer Avon Cycles saw its sales of electric vehicles grow at a pace of 15 per cent to 20 per cent every year, especially after the fuel price hike. "If the prices of petrol and diesel will keep going up, the market of the e-bike will get double in the coming time. This will benefit the industry immensely," one of the directors of Avon Cycles, Omkar Singh Pahwa was quoted as saying by ANI.

Hero MotoCorp, which holds 70 per cent of the total market share in the e-bike segment, followed by Avon Cycles and other bicycle manufacturing companies, sold 14,000 electric bicycles in 2019. This figure more than doubled to 30,000 e-bikes in 2020, marking significant rise in the demand for for battery-operated vehicles. "We are happy to say that Hero Group has the highest share of 70 per cent of e-bikes in India and we have created many new models to help people to travel 20 to 25 kilometers in cities," Hero MotoCorp's director Abhishek Munjal was quoted as saying.

For Hero, the growth in the e-vehicle business has been 20 per cent to 25 per cent. "For the last two-three years, we have seen double the growth in e-bike sale, so that we are likely to keep doubling every year in the coming years if the rates of petrol and diesel keep increasing," Munjal was quoted as saying.

The company also witnessed a three-fold rise in the number of inquiries about e-scooters from potential customers in the last two-three months, mostly after a hike in petrol and diesel prices.

(with inputs from ANI)