 "Bajaj Auto stock up 2% on launch of world's 1st CNG bike; Hero Moto down 3%")
Bajaj Auto CNG bike launch: Shares of Bajaj Auto gained 2 per cent to Rs 9,660 per share on the BSE in Friday's intraday trade. The rise in Bajaj Auto's share price came after the two-wheeler major launched the world's first CNG bike.
At 3:00 PM, Bajaj Auto share price was at Rs 9,655 per share, up 1.9 per cent, as against 0.57 per cent fall in the benchmark BSE Sensex.
On Friday, July 5, 2024, Bajaj Auto launched the world's first CNG motorcycle-Freedom 125. The starting price of Bajaj Auto's first-ever CNG bike has been set at Rs 95,000 (ex-showroom, India), and will go up to Rs 1.10 lakh. It said the CNG-based Bajaj Freedom 125 bike will be available in three variants.
The CNG bike, Bajaj Auto said, will have flexible/switchable fuel options between petrol and CNG.
"Bajaj Freedom 125 will be powered by a 125cc single-cylinder engine, which can run on both petrol and CNG and generates 9.5 PS of maximum power and 9.7 Nm of peak torque. The model will have a range of 300 kilometers," said Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto.
In March, Bajaj had said that in CNG bikes, carbon dioxide emission is down by almost 50 per cent, carbon monoxide by 75 per cent, and non-methane hydrocarbons by 90 per cent when compared to gasoline. He had also said it would effectively double mileage or halve the cost of fuel.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, was present at the launch of the Freedom-125 bike.
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"We are the highest exporters of two-wheelers in the world. I am 100 per cent confident that you'll get more market for it in comparison to petrol bikes as the cost is less. For petrol two-wheelers, the cost Rs 2.25 per kilometre, CNG is only Rs 1 per km, that is a great saving," Gadkari noted.
Meanwhile, shares of rival firm Hero MotoCorp fell 3.2 per cent soon after the launch of Bajaj Auto's Freedom-125 bike. The shares, however, recouped losses to trade flat later.
TVS Motor, and Escorts Kubota, meanwhile, were up 2.3 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively.