Lucknow, Sept. 15: The Uttar Pradesh government today withdrew the value-added tax (VAT) on cheaper bicycles, saying this was meant to promote “eco-friendly transport” and help poor families.

The BJP, however, cited the absence of bicycle lanes in the state’s cities to dub the move a “political gimmick” aimed at popularising the ruling Samajwadi Party’s election symbol, which happens to be a bicycle.

Bicycle dealers said that lifting the VAT alone would not help the poor much.

“The VAT is 5 per cent of a bicycle’s price, so a buyer gains just Rs 150 on a Rs 3,000 bicycle,” said Faraz Aziz Khan, owner of the Imperial Cycle Store in Lucknow.

A release from the office of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who recently visited the Netherlands and witnessed the popularity of cycling there, said the waiver applied only to bicycles priced within Rs 3,500.

It added that the state government planned to build bicycle lanes — marked paths on the sides of roads, meant exclusively for cyclists — in Lucknow, Agra and Noida.

After returning from his September 1-6 Netherlands trip, Akhilesh had said he had met bicycle industry executives there to discuss the tax incentives and infrastructure the Dutch government offers to promote cycling.

State government officials said cycling accounts for 27 per cent of all rural and urban road travel in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, the figure is 38 per cent.