Siliguri

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Tea news

Quick and hassle-free

Swaati Chaudhury| 12 August, 2016

Here’s some good news for the tea garden owners of North Bengal who are looking to transport their goods from the plantation site to the office in a quick and hassle-free way. Major three-wheeler player, Bajaj Auto, has rolled out a low-cost, three-wheeler cargo vehicle called Maxima C that promises to give more mileage, run smoothly with less vibration and give a good account of itself on steep and inhospitable Himalayan terrains.

Neeraj Khandelwal, regional head, West Bengal and North-East, Bajaj Commercial Vehicles, said, “Our newly-launched three-wheeler cargo has 23 per cent more power and its parts are sturdy and highly durable. It can run on both compressed natural gas or diesel and we are offering free maintenance for a year. Since there are a number of tea gardens in the Dooars and Darjeeling Hills, this three-wheeler cargo will be highly suitable to transport tea. The cargo vehicle can also make more trips in a short time and will be in high demand in the tea gardens in and around Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Malbazaar, Cooch Behar and Dhupguri. This kind of vehicle can easily negotiate rough and narrow roads in high-altitude zones.” The three-wheeler Maxima C comes at a price of Rs 1,99,891.

Tea gardens aside, the three-wheeler cargo is the best option for transporting beverages like coffee in the Nilgiri Hills down south and perishable vegetables and fruits like oranges in the Darjeeling Hills. 

Khandelwal said, “Our three-wheeler segment commands around 90 per cent market share in the alternate fuel segment and sales are quite robust in North Bengal. With the launch of the new three-wheeler cargo, we are targeting about 25 per cent market share in North Bengal in the current fiscal. We have four dealers for three-wheeler cargo vehicles in Bengal including two in Kolkata and one each in Durgapur and Siliguri.”

The auto major, however, has stiff competition from the Mahindra Group in the three-wheeler cargo segment. Khandelwal said, “We are hoping for a sale of 50 to 60 three-wheeler vehicles per month in the initial period and that is likely to go up in future. The three-wheeler cargo scenario in Bengal has a bright future and is likely to record a 10-15 per cent growth in the next couple of years.”