Govt wants to ban sub-150cc bikes & scooters in India: Here’s why

The rising level of pollutions in all major cities across India has alarmed the government into action. To curb vehicular pollution, the government is now planning to ban regular gasoline-powered two-wheelers up to 150 cc engine capacity completely. According to a TOI report, the government is working towards stopping the sales of non-electric three-wheelers by April 2023 and non-electric two-wheelers up to 150 cc engine capacity by April 2025. To let you know, these two segments have annual sales of over 2 crore units which account for more than three-quarters of the traffic on Indian roads.

However, this move, when and if made, will not affect the existing owners or the ones who bought them before the deadline. The government already made a big jump sometime back when it announced April 2020 as the come-in -effect date for BSVI emission norms. The government skipped on the BS5 norms in wake of the rising air pollution across the country, with some of the biggest Indian cities being listed in the top ten of worst air quality world index. If the draft is passed and turned into a mandate, only electric scooters, motorcycles and rickshaws will be on sale in India post the proposed date.

Moreover, according to the report, plans to ban non-electric delivery vehicles, city buses and school buses are also in talks. What this means is that the government and other panels involved in this process are pushing the throttle to switch the Indian auto scene into a global EV market leader soon. However, the government currently has no plans of offering any tax concessions to the EV manufacturers but rather is focusing on giving out benefits to the battery manufacturers. The FAME II policy already has no such tax reservations for privately owned EVs.

On the grass root level, the electric two-wheeler scene in India only has a few players with fewer monthly sales. The electric three-wheeler scene, however, has seen big growth over the last few years with a lot of big cities like the national capital having a good amount of such vehicles plying on roads already. As of now, Hero electric, Okinawa and Ather are some of the brands that are offering electric scooter in India with aftersales support. By the end of this year, Bajaj is expected to jump in the bandwagon too with the Urbanite electric scooter while Mahindra too could bring in the GenZe electric range. If the new deadlines for banning two-wheelers is passed, several other manufacturers too will jump into the scene.

Another point of concern here is building a sustainable electric infrastructure across the country which will encourage regular buyers to go for electric two-wheelers. Establishment of charging points across the country, training of aftersales support in handling electric powertrains along with development in the battery industry are some of the key areas that need to be worked upon. Also, the government is currently planning to mandate any such deadline for 4-wheelers right now due to various factors including the recovery period for investments in BSVI norms among others. However, expect the whole auto scene to change in a big way in the coming 5-6 years as four-wheeler manufacturers are already prepared to launch EVs in the country soon.