The Ather Konarc’s cheapest version comes to about ₹1.05 Lakh on the road in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and more than a dozen other cities that charge zero road tax on electric two-wheelers. Register the same scooter in Patna or Guwahati and the bill jumps by ₹8,000, to roughly ₹1.13 Lakh, because Bihar and Assam still tax an electric scooter the way they tax a petrol one.
That ₹8,000 has nothing to do with the scooter. The Konarc S is identical everywhere: same 4 kW motor, same battery, same ₹99,999 ex-showroom sticker. The gap is pure state policy.
Where the Konarc Is Cheapest, and Where It Isn’t
These are the Konarc S (100 km)’s starting on-road prices from The Spec’d’s own city price pages, each built from the ₹99,999 ex-showroom price plus that state’s road tax and a year of insurance:
| City | State | On-Road Price | EV Road Tax |
| Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jaipur | Various | ₹1.05 Lakh | None (0%) |
| Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | ₹1.09 Lakh | 4% |
| Ahmedabad | Gujarat | ₹1.11 Lakh | 6% |
| Kolkata | West Bengal | ₹1.11 Lakh | 6.3% |
| Guwahati | Assam | ₹1.13 Lakh | 8% |
| Patna | Bihar | ₹1.13 Lakh | 8% |
The Spec’d’s Mumbai price page states it plainly: Mumbai is the cheapest of the 39 cities the site prices the Konarc in, and Patna is ₹8,000 costlier. The Patna page adds that Patna also costs ₹1,750 more than Kolkata, the nearest big metro with a tax on EVs. These are estimates built from the maker’s ex-showroom price and each state’s published road-tax rules, not a dealer quote, so always confirm the final figure before booking.
Why Your Pin Code Decides the Price
Most states waived road tax on electric two-wheelers to push adoption, true in at least 14 of the 39 cities The Spec’d prices, including every metro except Kolkata. But the exemption isn’t universal. Bihar and Assam tax EVs at 8%, the same rate they’d apply to a petrol scooter. Madhya Pradesh charges 4%, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh 6%, and West Bengal works out to 6.3% because it taxes two-wheelers by engine size, not a flat rate.
It is baked into each state’s motor vehicles taxation rules, so a Patna buyer keeps paying more than a Mumbai buyer for as long as both states hold their current policy. Never register a vehicle in a state you don’t live in to dodge this; it is a real gap, not a loophole.
The Variant Ladder: Is the Bigger Battery Worth It?
The Konarc S comes in three battery sizes, and the step between them is steep:
| Variant | Ex-Showroom | Step Up | Claimed Range (IDC) | Real-World Estimate |
| Konarc S (100 km) | ₹99,999 | Base | 100 km | ~80 km |
| Konarc S (125 km) | ₹1.31 Lakh | +₹31,046 | 125 km | ~100 km |
| Konarc S (161 km) | ₹1.54 Lakh | +₹23,001 | 161 km | ~130 km |
The real-world figures aren’t a Spec’d test; they’re an independent estimate from Indian listings, not a number Ather claims, and claimed-versus-real gap is the usual 20 to 25% any IDC-rated electric vehicle loses in actual traffic.
Buy the base Konarc S (100 km), also The Spec’d’s own pick for value. The 125 km version adds ₹31,046 for about 20 real extra kilometres; the 161 km version adds ₹54,047 over the base for roughly 50 real kilometres more. Pay up only if your daily distance genuinely needs the buffer.
What It Actually Costs a Month
Every EMI on The Spec’d is worked on the on-road price in that city, not the ex-showroom figure, so the monthly number also shifts with the state. On a 20% down payment and a 3-year loan at 12% interest, the Konarc’s EMI page works out to about ₹2,789 a month in Mumbai. The same loan on the Patna on-road price comes to about ₹3,002, and on the Kolkata on-road price about ₹2,955. That’s a real ₹213-a-month difference between Mumbai and Patna buyers financing the identical scooter.
Under ₹1 Lakh? Only on the Showroom Floor
Ather markets the Konarc S as starting under ₹1 lakh, and the ex-showroom figure of ₹99,999 is technically true, which is why it shows up on The Spec’d’s own list of electric scooters under ₹1 lakh. On the road, it never is. Even in the 14 cities with zero EV road tax, insurance alone pushes the real price to about ₹1.05 Lakh. Budget for that number, not the sticker.
The ₹99,999 badge on the Konarc is an ex-showroom number nobody actually pays at the counter. Add a year of insurance anywhere in India and five states’ worth of road tax on top of that, and the honest floor price is ₹1.05 Lakh, rising to ₹1.13 Lakh if you happen to live in Bihar or Assam.
Its closest rival on price, the Bajaj Chetak, starts at ₹99,802 ex-showroom, about the same as the Konarc’s ₹99,999, and is also ₹1.04 Lakh on the road in Mumbai against the Konarc’s ₹1.05 Lakh. Buyers choosing on price alone should see them side by side before booking either.
What is the on-road price of the Ather Konarc?
The base Konarc S (100 km) starts at about ₹1.05 Lakh on the road in cities with no EV road tax, such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, and rises to about ₹1.13 Lakh in Patna and Guwahati, where state road tax on electric two-wheelers still applies.
Which Ather Konarc variant should I buy?
The base Konarc S (100 km) at ₹99,999 ex-showroom. The pricier 125 km and 161 km versions add ₹31,046 and ₹54,047 respectively for real-world range gains that are smaller than the claimed numbers suggest, so only pay up if your daily distance genuinely demands it.
Why does road tax on electric scooters vary by state?
Most states exempted EVs from road tax to encourage adoption, but the exemption is a state-level policy choice, not a national rule. Bihar, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal all still charge some road tax on an electric two-wheeler, which is why the same Konarc costs more to register there than in Mumbai or Delhi.
