Kawasaki pulled a surprise last year when it announced that the Ninja 1000 was being brought in as an SKD (semi-knocked down) kit and assembled locally. The result was a stunning Rs 9.98 lakh price tag and Kawasaki being unable to meet customer demand, for quite a while.

Our sources now indicate that Kawasaki will be giving the same treatment to its track-focused superbike, the ZX-10R. The 10R currently retails for Rs 18.8 lakh ex-showroom (pan India) and as we recently reported, the last few units in stock were sold at a heavy discount.

The bike maker's move to local assembly will help bring the ZX-10R's price down substantially. As a result, the superbike is likely to be priced at under Rs 14 lakh. This will make this Kawasaki the most affordable litre-class superbike on sale today – a claim currently held by the surprisingly well-priced Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. The Honda is a CBU and the recent reduction in CBU duties resulted in the bike's price being set at Rs 14.78 lakh for the base model and Rs 18.68 lakh for the higher-spec CBR1000RR SP.

Kawasaki will assemble the ZX-10R at its new facility in Chakan using kits from Japan. We believe that the bike will be launched soon, probably sometime in the month of June. The ZX-10R is among the fastest motorcycles on the planet, equipped with a 200hp in-line-four engine and has seen immense success in the World Superbike Championship at the hands of Jonathan Rea, who has won the last three world championships in a row.