Policy on two-wheelers: Maruti's Bhargava urges govt to focus on e-bikes

As the key objective of the EV policy is to reduce the burgeoning oil import bill, we should concentrate our attention on two-wheelers, which is the low-hanging fruit and where conversion also is much

It might sound incongruous. But the country’s largest carmaker is pushing for a policy that should focus on electrification of two-wheelers rather than cars. The logic: Two-wheelers consume a lot of petrol, and e-cars will be unaffordable. 

R C Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki, said: “Two-wheelers constitute 62 per cent of petrol consumption in the country, while cars only 36 per cent. As the key objective of the electric vehicle (EV) policy is to reduce the burgeoning oil import bill, we should concentrate on two-wheelers, which are the low-hanging fruits and where conversion is much easier.” 

In 2017-18, 3.28 million