Electrotherm to launch motor-powered bike

Electrotherm (India), a Gujarat-based company, is all set to launch a battery-operated bike - Yobykes. The bike will be launched by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today evening at Gandhinagar.

"The bikes have no engine or exhaust. It does not need petrol or licence or registration to drive. It works on a motor powered by a rechargeable battery," Mukesh Bhandari, CMD of Electrotherm (India), said.

Electrotherm will manufacture the bikes under its division Indus Elec-Trans. "We have already begun manufacturing the bikes at our plant in Samakhyali in Kutch," Bhandari said, adding the company has spent three years developing the bike.

"An investment of about Rs 125 crore has already been made, and we plan to scale up the investment to Rs 400 crore by next year," he added.

The plant has a capacity to manufacture up to 1.2 lakh bikes per year now, and the plan is to increase the capacity to over 5 lakh bikes, Bhandari said.

The bikes, which costs between Rs 14,000-23,000 for different models, would be launched later in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.