STEALTHY RIDER
IT moves silently, gives out no emissions and runs on rechargeable batteries. This is the Xite, the new generation green bike that hit the Indian roads this summer. Launched this July, the Chennai-based Kabirdass Motor Company has already sold over 600 Xites. ‘‘We were automotive component manufacturers and had enough experience in parts development and had contacts all over India. This gave us the idea of doing something innovative,’’ says Murali Kabirdass, the company’s managing director.
The company has embarked on an expansion plan to indigenise the production of critical components and is looking at an investment of Rs 106 crore. ‘‘We are interested in private equity. There are a lot of people talking to us within India and abroad. By December-end we hope to finalise things,’’ says Kabirdass, pointing out that the market potential for electrical bikes would be five lakh next year and is likely to go up by a couple of million in the next five years. ‘‘We now have one assembly line with a capacity to manufacture 40,000 bikes per annum. We will increase it to five lines next year and make it to 10 in the next five years. The overall capacity will be 1,000 bikes per day within five years and the market for this India and several countries abroad,’’ says Kabirdass. Located in Velappanchavadi in Chennai suburbs, the factory produces four gearless models below the 250 weight category with a top speed of 25 kmph that can travel approximately 70 km on a single charge of 8-12 hours. The gearless model in the 1500 weight category comes with a top speed of 60 kmph and can travel approximately 80 to 100 km on a single charge of 8-12 hours. The rechargeable batteries have a life of 15,000 to 18,000 km And the cost of each? It ranges between Rs 26,500 and Rs 45,000.
-Jaya Menon

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