Bicycle Ownership in India

CHENNAI, India (June 2) - More than two out of five Indian households own a bicycle. That's a total of more than 83 million bicycles on the road, according to a recent government report. The same report says: “Assuming an average bicycle is made to last for seven years, this would mean that replacement demand alone would add up to around 12 million bicycles each year.” The proportion of households owning a bicycle varies from a high of around 70% for the Punjab and UP to a low of around 30% for Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala. For Goa, this deficiency is compensated for by the high proportion of households owning motorcycles, mopeds or scooters: 38.7%, significantly higher than the all-India figure of 11.7%. The biggest players on the Indian market are Hero, with a production of around 4 million units, TI Cycles, who produces some 3 million units, Avon Cycles, good for 1.5 million and Atlas Cycles, who produced slightly under 1 million bikes. Export is becoming more and more important, as domestic demand is slowing down – main reason being the ‘upgrade’ to motorized transport. The province of Goa, with its well developed tourism, is probably the forerunner in this trend.