Bajaj Auto to unveil world's first CNG-powered bike this year

Bajaj Auto is developing world's first CNG-powered motorcyle and was set to launch it next year. The two-wheeler giant's managing director Rajiv Bajaj has said that the company has advanced the launch to next quarter, CNN-News 18 reported.

In an interview to the channel, Bajaj cited that the motivation for a CNG bike is from the point of view of the environment. He added that as compared to a gasoline bike, the carbon dioxide is down by almost 50 per cent, carbon monoxide is down by 75 per cent and non-methane hydrocarbons are down by 90 per cent.

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The Bajaj Auto MD said that the CNG-powered bike is ‘potentially fantastic’ for the environment. He drew cues from Hero Honda's strategy of doubling mileage or to halve the cost of fuel for the citizens.

However, Bajaj said that the users should not have their expectations high as there will be only one launch this year, adding that the company is focused on getting ‘the basics’ right.

Bajaj Auto's total two-wheeler sales for the month rose 25% to 294,684 units, Reuters reported.

Recently, Bajaj Auto had announced that it invested an additional ₹45.75 crore in electric bike-sharing platform Yulu Bikes. Post the fresh investment, the company's shareholding in Yulu Bikes stands at 18.8 per cent of the paid up equity share capital of the electric bike-sharing platform, Bajaj Auto said in a regulatory filing.

In 2019, Bajaj Auto announced an investment of USD 8 million (around ₹66 crore) in Yulu to boost electric vehicle adoption in India.

Passenger vehicle market to grow by 9% this fiscal, claims ratings firm

The domestic passenger vehicle (PV) market is estimated to grow by six to nine per cent in the current financial year over the preceding fiscal, according to ratings firm ICRA.

In absolute terms, the PV industry will clock a sales figure of 4.2 million units in the current fiscal, PTI quoted the ICRA data.