The cycle rickshaw, which is a variant of a cargo bike is quite common in Asia. The price for a new one ranges from $100-500. Meanwhile, a bike with elongated rear rack, e.g., a longtail cargo bike (barely counts as cargo bike) can cost $1,000 in the West, and that is the entry level “cargo bike.” A front load cargo bike costs $2500 and upwards. An Urban Arrow ™ cargo bike can cost a whopping $6-7k.
In the west, any new object that isn’t corn syrup based costs more than it should because of middlemen and FIRE rentseeking. Further, in the west cargo bikes are marketed as a luxury/weekend productivity enhancer, not as something that is a poverty necessity.
Also, the US had literally 40x GDP per capita compared to India, and still 20% lower gas price. Carbrains don’t realize how much of a state subsidized welfare queens they are.