Govt. Slashes Import Duty on Premium Motorcycles

The government of India has announced through a notification on 12th February that it will be reducing customs duties on high-end motorcycles in India. CBUs across the board will now attract customs duty of 50 per cent, which earlier stood at 60 per cent for motorcycles below 800cc and at 75 per cent for motorcycles above 800cc.

It’s not just CBUs - SKD or semi-knocked down units i.e engine, transmission and drivetrain, pre-assembled but not mounted on body assembly, have also received a duty reduction of 5 per cent and is now down to 25 per cent compared to 30 per cent earlier. The move will be welcomed by all motorcyclists looking to upgrade to bigger motorcycles and should help the motorcycling culture in India gain momentum faster as well.

If we talk numbers, the newly launched Ducati Panigale V4 could be available for Rs 3.0 lakh less while the Triumph Tiger Explorer, which currently retails for Rs 18.75 lakh ex-showroom pan-India, could cost as much as Rs 2.7 lakh less. Motorcycles like the Kawasaki Ninja 1000, which is priced at Rs 9.98 lakh ex-showroom Delhi, will not see as steep a drop in price and are likely to cost less by just Rs 40,000.

Locally assembled motorcycles like the Triumph Bonneville T120, however, could cost more as the duty on CKD or completely knocked down units, i.e engines and transmissions which are not pre-assembled but assembled and mounted on site, has been hiked from 10 per cent to 15 per cent. This means that bikes like the Triumph Street Triple S, which currently costs Rs 8.71 lakh ex-showroom pan-India, could see a price hike of Rs 30,000. This step has been undertaken to encourage motorcycle manufacturers to produce and manufacture drivetrain parts in India and use the country as a base for global exports.