Two wheelers set to get costlier by up to 20% due to stringent emission norms

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The adoption of proposed BS-VI emission norms for two-wheelers are likely to increase costs of two wheelers by 10-20 percent. The Indian credit rating agency ICRA said on Thursday.

Notably, the India will move up to the toughest emission standards of BS-VI from the current BS-IV by 2020, skipping an intermediate level, transport minister Nitin Gadkari had said in January earlier this year.

The Indian automobile manufacturers will have to begin installing Electronic Fuel Injection technology instead of commonly used carburetters. EFI are computer-controlled fuel delivery system that determines the precise amount of fuel and air mixture that should be supplied to an engine, based on environmental and riding conditions. They are not locally produced thereby making the installation steeper.

As per Overdrive, the average difference between a carbureted and fuel-injected two-wheeler of the same make and model is Rs 8,000-9,000. The Hero Glamour Fi, for instance, is priced at Rs 65,600 (ex-Delhi) while the price of its carbureted version is Rs 57,925.

So, the challenge for automobile manufacturers is to localise the electronic fuel injection system and make the availability of BS-IV fuel in a country in the short time span.