Indian government reveals radical plan for electric motorcycles

Bruno Gomes

July 10, 2019

Indian Prime-Minister Narendra Modi wants that all new motorcycles under 150 cc sold by 2025 need to be electric.

We know Governments around the World are looking for solutions to improve the environment. Now, Indian Prime-Minister Narendra Modi has come up with a radical proposal. The Indian government reveals a radical plan for electric motorcycles. This plan is to become reality by 2025. But what does the Indian government propose?

According to Reuters news agency, Narendra Modi spoke to motorcycle manufacturers to speak about his plan. He wants that by 2025 all new motorcycles under 150 cc must be electric motorcycles.

Manufacturers like TVS Motors, Honda, Yamaha, Bajaj, and others that have factories in India, didn’t like this plan. They say that if this plan becomes a reality many will lose their jobs. Besides unemployment, they also say that forcing electric motorcycles to people with low income will change their way of life. People that rely on small displacement combustion motorcycles to move in their daily life.

Big manufacturers that were present in a meeting with Narendra Modi say that they’ll need to completely change their factories to adapt to electric motorcycles. Thee will need to make big investments to do this. Also, India doesn’t have any battery manufacturer, so they will need to buy the batteries from other countries.

Of course, electric motorcycle manufacturers are happy with this proposal from the Indian government. They will be able to sell more motorcycles in India, one of the biggest markets in the World for two-wheelers.

Narendra Modi seems to understand the problems the motorcycle sector is facing with this plan. He asked manufacturers to present their proposal and a new meeting is to happen in the next couple of weeks.

Will we see India completely change their motorcycle business by 2025? Only time will tell. But the first step to change things has been taken.