How Bajaj Auto plans to disrupt India’s e-rickshaw market

E-rickshaws have become ubiquitous on Indian roads. They have not only helped save cycle rickshaw pullers from strenuous physical work but also cut tailpipe emissions from conventional internal-combustion engine (ICE) autorickshaws. Yet even a decade after they first began to ply on Indian roads, over 70% of these e-rickshaws still use lead-acid batteries. And Bajaj Auto plans to change that by becoming the first major automaker to enter the segment. Until now, this industry has been dominated by small and unorganised players.

On Wednesday, the Pune-based automaker entered the e-rickshaw category with the launch of Bajaj Riki.

“It’s a segment where we are not competing with other auto majors. Given our strength in the three-wheeler segment, we are looking at this very optimistically. This segment is close to 40,000 units a month or 4.5 lakh units annually. That’s a very significant market to operate in,” says Sumeet Narang, president of Marketing at Bajaj Auto.

“One of the challenges in the market is that over 70% of the operators use lead-acid batteries, which require an annual replacement and have issues of acid spilling over. Other safety risks include toppling and braking,” he adds. Bajaj Auto claims that Riki is the only product in the market that’s built on a monocoque chassis.

After starting a pilot rollout of the Riki in four cities, Bajaj Auto is looking to expand its presence in 200 cities by the end of the ongoing financial year.

“We plan to roll it out city by city, market by market, unlike passenger cars. We are starting with 25 cities with the launch, then we are moving on to the next 100 cities and then to 200 cities by April 2026,” says Samardeep Subandh, President, Intra-City Business Unit, Bajaj Auto.

“We are focusing on markets where the segment exists. Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand, among others. UP is the biggest market,” he adds.

The legacy automaker is confident of disrupting the e-rick market. “Bajaj Auto’s journey of achieving a 75% market share in ICE autorickshaws has been a three-decade-long journey. It will be hazarding a guess on how fast we can do it in the e-rick segment,” said Subandh.

The automaker is currently producing about 200-300 units monthly. It is looking to scale up production gradually in the next four months.

“The interesting thing is that this category has 550 players. In every nook and cranny, there is a local player. The number 1 player has only 8% market share. It’s not going to be easy to get a very high market share in this category. Even if we get 5-7% market share, we become number 2,” Subandh says.

E-rickshaws form a significant part of last-mile mobility feeding metros, suburban rail, and city bus systems.

Bajaj Riki P4005, where P stands for Passenger, comes with a 5.4 kWh battery and is priced at ₹1,90,890 (ex-showroom). The Cargo model, Riki C4005, is priced at ₹2,00,876.