Notably, it is the first store run by Thailand-based LA bicycles in the country, which has come up in the city in collaboration with local firm Sovereign.

Rohit Kalra, managing director of LA-Sovereign, said, “Ebikes are the latest trend in biking. Eco-friendly transport is the need of the hour and ebikes fulfil it.”

These bikes are, however, not very popular in the Indian market. But Punjab’s environment minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia, who inaugurated the store, sounded hopeful of that. “We have a tendency to follow the West. I believe that bicycles and ebikes will soon be more popular in the country. I have asked for a subsidy of about 40 per cent for battery-operated bikes from the Centre, to which the state government will also contribute. At the moment, we are running losses of Rs 52,000 crore, so it will not be possible to give the subsidy right away,” he said.

Prakit, managing director of LA Cycles, while talking to Newsline, said, “At the moment, the market for ebikes is not flourishing in the country. As per our research, the sale was only of 100,000 units last year. But this market will grow in the coming five years, so it has a good scope.”

Different models of LA bicycles are priced between Rs 2,000 and 25,000 while ebikes come in the range of Rs 15,000-25,000. They can go up to speeds of 25 km per hour.

The company has plans to open a store in almost all the major cities of the country by the Commonwealth Games (to be held in New Delhi in 2010).