ATV - Indian Scenerio

The ATV market in India is still in infancy. The market is scattered over vast countryside and the quantity is very low to support a proper service backup. By law, they are not permitted on public roads and by design, absence of differential makes it not advisable on tar roads. It is not a comfortable ride in hard black topped road  that I have tried in my village.  So the use is totally restricted to our private land.

There could be two application for ATVs. First is sort of wheel chair for handicapped people to go around. I have also been approached by people with heart problems. Other application is for sports & recreation.

I use ATV as a wheel chair to go around our farm. It is simply indispensable in long monsoon months when farm paths are wet and slippery.

To have an ATV, there seems to be two options. One is get it assembled in India and other is get it imported. Chinkara Motors in Mumbai custom build ATVs using kinetic scooter engines. Since they are made to order, they are much more expensive than mass produced goods. chinkaracars@rediffmail.com is their email ID

Polaris,  a  reputed American brand seems to have dealers in India and one of them is located in Bangalore. The Polaris is a premium brand & quality is supposed  to be great. Some of their models are assembled in Taiwan. They are also expensive and may be beyond the reach of average Indian.  http://www.sasconit.com/tranquil/

There are couple of importers doing business in big cities importing from China in small quantities. Here is Delhi based importer.
 http://www.adventurewheels.co.in/

There is another experienced supplier in the scene  based  in Bangalore.   Advertised in Google and so can be easily tracked. He  acts very slippery and claim stock what he sell are sourced from Taiwan. There is little service backup and spare parts inventory.

Many engineering college students do assemble go karts as part of their project work. There are some demonstration units in colleges. Most of them appear similar and are of very basic design. They are not ideal for daily use.

There are road legal ATVs which can be used in back roads in Western countries. The documentation needed to   make them  road legal   is very long and expensive process.    ARAI located in Pune    has to okay the design and certify they are roadworthy. The cerification process is another story. 

The sales may reach critical volume a few years from now & comprehensive service backup for ATVs becomes available. Hope that day will come soon.