Faheem, who runs auto-rickshaws in Lucknow’s Transport Nagar, spends about 100 rupees daily to recharge his Bajaj RE-Tech 9.0. He drives about 160 km daily. He charges his EV once a day. In Vastrapur, Ahmedabad, Maheshbhai fills his Bajaj RE CNG Auto daily for Rs 300. This is enough for daily driving of 180-200 km. Earnings of e-rickshaws and CNG autos are the same. The prices of both are also the same, but the difference in the case of fuel is one third. Nevertheless, Gujarat did not really adopt electric mobility as much as Uttar Pradesh has adopted. In 2024, 40,142 electric auto rickshaws were sold in Uttar Pradesh. This figure is 1,070 in Gujarat.
According to those who monitor the industry, company officials and auto drivers themselves, there are many reasons behind the adoption of EV in Uttar Pradesh.
Rules and Regulation: Gujarat and even Maharashtra were very fast in adopting CNG technology two decades ago. Both these state governments insisted on adopting CNG. However, this did not happen in northern India including Uttar Pradesh. “Mumbai was always open to CNG, it was not the case in Uttar Pradesh cities,” Samardeep Subaband, president of Bajaj Auto Limited’s Interacity Business Unit, told NewsDeskReport profit in Lucknow on Tuesday. However, the electrical three-wheeler case is a very different case. The market of UP is rapidly turning into EV. There were quite rules and regulations in the case of the number of units, but this is not the case in the case of EV. “
The argument of the samand is perfect. The Regional Transport Office in Lucknow has stopped issuing permits to run CNG auto in the city. At the same time, there is no such commercial permit for e-rickshaws. This means that the driver can go to the showroom and buy an e-rickshaw, can register it and start carrying the passengers immediately. This process is exactly the same as we buy a car.
Lack of CNG stations: Gujarat has the largest network of CNG fuel stations in India in terms of CNG connectivity. Till 2023, one of the five CNG pumps in India was in Gujarat. The CNG network in Uttar Pradesh is less than half of Gujarat. Essentially, it has become difficult to switch to electric mobility to Gujarat’s auto drivers due to easy availability of CNG. Uttar Pradesh had no option but to adopt it.
Per capita income: According to government data, the per capita income of Gujarat was Rs 2.75 lakh in 2023, while Uttar Pradesh was less than Rs 1 lakh. This means that the income of auto drivers is slightly low, due to which such popularity is increasing. It is noteworthy here that the price of Bajaj Auto’s CNG auto-rickshaw is less than Rs 2.90 lakh, which does not include registration and permit fee. The price of EV variant starts at Rs 3.25 lakh, but it also gets low road tax and subsidy.