BY YOGESH MEHENDALE MUMBAI Cashing in on high fuel prices, electric bike manufacturers are planning to expand their businesses in the Indian market. Mr Avinash Bhandari, director, operations, Electrotherm, manufacturer of YO Bykes said, "Now customers are realising that there is an alternative to petrol-driven vehicles. In the last one-and-a-half year, we have sold around 50,000 e-bikes, but this year we are targeting to sell more than 60,000 e-bikes.' Mr Bhandari added that the small e-bike spends 33 paise per kilometre and big e-bike spends around 45 paise per kilometre, which is still far more economical than the conventional motor cycle's Rs 2 for 2-stroke engine and Rs 1.25 for 4stroke engine, he added. Mr S. Rao, marketing head, R.K. Motors, the company that brought e-bikes into India in 2004 said that the current economic scenario has brightened the hopes of the industry and we are expecting to sell around 20,000 e-bikes in this coming festive season. Mr Naresh Talaja, a dealer of YO Bykes in Ahmedabad said that apart from the ladies and youth, who are major customers, companies are also showing keen interest in the e-bikes. "We have few companies that purchased 15 to 20 ebikes for their employees,' he said.