In a first of its kind initiative, Tube Investments of India ltd (TII), the Rs 2,400-crore company from the Murugappa Group and one of the leading e-scooter manufacturers in the country, plans to launch high-powered scooters in the e-scooter segment. The company is working on two products.

K Balasubramanian, CFO, TII, said: “We are working on new products which will give the required power, speed, mileage and comfort, comparable to petrol scooters in India. It is too early talk about the prices, we expect to keep the price on a par with that of the petrol scooters.”

He added: “We make these scooters with key components imported from China with major localisation. These scooters will give power that of geared ones (automatic gears) and will have high battery capacity to give customers a joy ride. The company is working with two to three major battery manufacturers in India for developing the new product.” The company expects to launch this product soon, he added.

“We are working on another product which will come very close to petrol scooter. This could come sometime at the end of the fiscal, may be in March 2011. We believe, with this, we should be able to get a kind of a leadership position and also improve our market share and volumes. We are growing 1,000 units a month,” he said.

“We are in talks with several state governments to provide necessary subsidy to promote e-scooters in a big way,” he said. “With almost all unorganised players shutting shop, the 3-4 serious players in the organised sector set to benefit immensely,” he added.