Lauding the quality and research put behind Bajaj Auto’s CNG-run Freedom 125, Roads Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the variant would become the preferred 2-wheeler choice abroad given the cost-savings it offers.

The CNG bike will start at Rs 95,000 and will go up to Rs 1.10 lakh. The CNG motorcycle will offer a range of 330 kilometre. It will have a 2 kilogram CNG tank along with a 2 litre petrol tank.

The CNG tank is housed under the seat.

“We are the highest exports of 2-wheelers in the world. I am 100% confident that you’ll get more market for it in comparison to petrol bikes as the cost is less,” Gadkari noted. “For petrol 2-wheeler cost is Rs 2.25 per kilometre, CNG is only Rs 1 per km. that is a great saving, I am very happy about it,” Gadkari said.

Gadkari expects India to become the world’s second biggest automobile manufacturing destination in the world in the next five years.

“Bajaj’s CNG bike has a 2 litre petrol tank. I would request Bajaj to make it a 2 litre ethanol pump instead. Petrol costs Rs 100 per litre while CNG costs Rs 60. Petrol also creates a lot of pollution,” Gadkari said.

Bajaj Auto Freedom 125

“It is the outcome of a very intense exercise over the last two to three years. We will be showcasing through this, the power of innovation at Bajaj Auto. It addresses a very large market size. Almost 70% of the one million per month market of motorcycles has some level of sensitivity to fuel economy,” Rakesh Sharma, ED, Bajaj Auto told ETNow earlier this week.

“A very average customer who is earning Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 per month can expect to save depending on how much they tried about Rs 1,500 per month. Secondly, with all the thrust of the government and also with the companies on decarbonization, CNG, while still a carbon-based fuel, has far less carbon content, and to that extent, it is much more beneficial from an environmental point of view than let us say a diesel or petrol, particularly in the carbon-based emissions. So, there is a significant reduction in that,” Sharma had said.