Bajaj Auto Waits With Bated Breath To Expand Horizons In 200 Cities By January 2026

New Delhi: Bajaj Auto Ltd, which made its foray into the e-rickshaw segment with Riki this year, plans to increase its presence in 200 cities by January to March next year, according to a senior company official.The company, which started a pilot test of Riki with four cities, has now scaled up its presence to eight at present as part of phase I, Bajaj Auto Executive Director Rakesh Sharma told PTI.

"We've launched it in four cities, now it has become eight cities, including Patna, Moradabad, Guwahati, and Raipur... We are right now in phase one, where for another month or so we will be observing it as to what is the feedback from the customers, and what should be the communication and promotion strategy," Sharma said when asked about pan-India expansion plans for the Riki.

After that, he said, "In the January, February, March period, we will scale up our presence from eight to 200 cities and towns. Once we see the traction there, then we will start to get into numbers and what kind of volumes we will do." Sharma was responding to a query on the potential of Riki in terms of sales volumes.

For the next three to four months, he said, "We are just seeding, and then we are scaling up its presence, and then we will see what traction we get." Under its phase I expansion of Riki, Bajaj Auto is targeting multiple cities and towns in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Assam.

Sharma claimed that priced at Rs 1.9 lakh, Riki, which is powered by a lithium-ion battery with a monocoque body, offers a much safer and environmentally friendly last-mile mobility solution as compared to the existing lead-acid battery-powered e-rickshaws mostly from unorganised players.Riki delivers a range of 140 kilometers on a single charge with fast charging of full charge in 4.5 hours and comes with 3-year battery warranty. 

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