American cult bike brand Harley Davidson may finally hit the Indian roads. Harley Davidson had expressed its intention to enter the Indian market in 2005. However, due to the differences it had with the Government on import duty of its bikes, it had put its plans on hold. In 2007, under a new quid pro quo between US and indian Government, India relaxed the import policy to facilitate import of super bikes of capcity over 800cc (Harley Davidson’s range starts from 883cc Roadster), while US allowed the entry of Indian mangoes. After that Yamaha Motor India has launched its two super bikes — 1,000 cc YZF R1 and 1,680 cc MT01 — in India. However, unlike the Yamaha, Harley Davidson faced a new hurdle with homolgation, under the existing norms the superbike have to be tested and approved (read homologated) by agency in the ‘country of origin’ of the product. But Harley used to source the bikes from US irrespective of the country it enters. But America has no certifying agency. This has hampered Harley Davidson indian entry a lot along with high import duties and stringent emission norms. Today, the government has relaxed their testing norms. The director general of foreign trade (DGFT) has now allowed import of all such bikes which have been tested and approved (read homologated) by any certified agency from the European Union. This means Harley’s US-made bikes can tag an EU homologation certificate to be sold in India. Government of India’s will also encourage other two-wheeler majors such as Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki to introduce their full range of high-powered products in India. However, for other super bike makers such as Suzuki Motorcycle India (SMIL), which plans to launch its legendary 1300 cc Hayabusa and the 1600 cc B King sometime next year, the new policy will now expedite the launch. Suzuki Motorcyles India vice-president (sales & marketing) Atul Gupta said, “It will help us immensely to introduce our bikes faster in India. As our current homologation certificates from Netherlands will be allowed here, we will get a big boost in this niche market.” If Harley again find the conditions are not conducive, will the government of India compromise in emission norms?