B: Live, an eco-tourism start-up which has pioneered the concept of electric vehicle (EV) tourism in India has launched its services in Karnataka. It offers immersive experiential tours on smart e-bikes, providing a clean mode of transport to the tourists and locals.
Working closely with the tourism ministry of India to promote eco-tourism in India, the start-up hopes to successfully offer EV services in Karnataka starting with Mysuru, Hampi, Coorg and Srirangapatna. For many Indian states, looking to strike a balance between tourism and sustainability, one of the significant challenges is polluting transport options that tourists rely heavily on, EV tourism is expected to gain enormous traction attracting more tourists to opt for an eco-friendly mode of sightseeing.
B: Live CEO and Co-Founder, Samarth Kholkar, says that while electric vehicle tourism is gaining popularity in India, the country is still lagging when it comes to experiential tourism. He further adds “we focus on sightseeing when travelling. We don’t give importance to experiencing local art, culture and cuisine, often also neglecting the environmental aspect of travel. That’s when we thought of introducing experiential tourism but in an eco-friendly manner, through electric vehicles”.
Steering towards a sustainable future. Thank you @oltraveller for capturing the true spirit of B:Live – India’s first Electric Vehicle Tourism initiative.@anandmahindra @MainiChetan @vijayshekhar @ArcisCleanTech @PMOIndia @nitin_gadkari @NITIAayoghttps://t.co/SCZ5vMl4eS pic.twitter.com/X1GJ1nYl98
— Samarth Kholkar (@sam_kholkar) December 3, 2018
Despite Pioneerinhg EV tourism in India, B: Live isn’t alone in its eco-friendly efforts.
Yulu, another e-bike company has gained enormous traction in Bengaluru recently. The compact blue bike, often used by professionals and college-goers, are now seeing booking on weekends for leisure rides. With the rise in weekend booking, Yulu CEO Amit Gupta said that “ with Bengaluru being a city of lakes, many are using these bikes to ride around the water bodies”, hence opening up the EV market to the tourism industry.
Witnessing a Miracle: @myogiadityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh alongside @HardeepSPuri, Civil Aviation Minister of India and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in India, checking out Yulu Miracle at #UMI2019, Lucknow.@amitgupta007 @NaveenDachuri @rk_misra @hemant_hg pic.twitter.com/JXQJCM1sfT
— Yulu Bike (@YuluBike) November 15, 2019
Karnataka attracting more than about 8.5 million tourists every year, eco-tourism initiatives like B: Live will encourage sustainable tourism practises, thus reducing the carbon footprint of the tourists and help restore the environmental balance. The green movement supported by the tourism and state ministry alongside B: Live’s launch is expected to encourage zero-carbon tourism in India.
“We aim to redefine tourism with the first-of-its-kind tours which provide eco-friendly and intimate experience of the rich and diverse culture of the state zipping through some of the most fascinating and beautiful experiences” concluded Kholkar.
