One of India’s top businessmen has reiterated plans to bring back iconic British motorcycle brand BSA.

Anand Mahindra told the Guardian that he hopes the first bikes could start rolling off the production line by the middle of next year.

The billionaire chairman of Mahindra Group hopes to soon start building a research facility in Banbury where researchers will develop electric motorcycles, he told the Guardian.

The first production will be of classic fossil-fuel burning bikes, but by the end of 2021 Mr Mahindra hopes that BSA electric bikes could hit roads.

“The UK was the leader in bikes right from the start,” Mr Mahindra told the newspaper. “That provenance is something that we really want to retain.”

Last week Mahindra & Mahindra announced that its subsidiary BSA Company Limited, UK, had bought three companies from BSA Regal Group.

It is not the first time that the billionaire, who made his fortune through the vehicle maker, has promised to bring back the brand after buying BSA Company Limited in October 2016.

On Christmas Day in 2017 he tweeted a picture of Father Christmas on a BSA bike, writing: “We’re sorry you’ve missed out on your favourite ride for all these years, Santa…We’re working on getting it back for you…A shiny new one, but with all the character of your old steed.”

The new BSA bikes with traditional engines will cost between £5,000 and £10,000, the Guardian reported.

The company is wary about being hit with tariffs after Brexit. It believes that it can tap into the desire that people will have to travel when lockdown finally ends.

It hopes to build a new factory close to the old Small Heath site.