[sustran] Stimulus for bus makers takes a curious turn

Vinay Baindur yanivbin at gmail.com
Fri Nov 13 15:03:14 JST 2009


http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Stimulus-for-bus-makers-takes-a-curious-turn/539903/

*Stimulus for bus makers takes a curious turn*
Praveen Kumar Singh, Yogima Seth
Posted online: Nov 11, 2009 at 0226 hrs

*New Delhi*It was a key element of the fiscal stimulus package unveiled in
January, but seems to have got lost in translation. To draw down rising
inventories of commercial vehicles, the Centre had announced a Rs
4,735-crore package for states to buy 15,000 buses for urban transport under
the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

But the urban development ministry’s technical specifications for these
buses and states’ desire for high-tech features have meant that instead of
ridding itself of inventories, the industry is now trying to scale up
capacity. The net effect–the Centre is being forced to extend the deadline
for the buses’ delivery further to March 2010 from the rescheduled date of
December 31, 2009.

“Car sales have improved, but commercial vehicles are picking up slowly.
Most of the 63 cities have asked for low-floor buses, as they are
good-looking and high-tech, irrespective of whether they are suitable for
local roads. The industry is still developing the capacity to supply such
buses, so their delivery will take more time,” heavy industries secretary
Satyanarayana Dash told FE.

“The stimulus measure envisaged the purchase of standard conventional buses.
As a result, bus suppliers like Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors, which had
enough capacity for standard buses, are now developing capacity for
low-floor buses. So it won’t be possible for them to supply the buses before
March 31, 2010,” Dash said.

Ironically, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) had
alerted the urban development ministry about the industry’s capacity
constraints on low-floor buses as early as February. Yet, the final
guidelines for the buses issued by the ministry asked for high-tech ultra
low-floor (400 mm height) and semi low-floor buses (650-700 mm height).

Though standard buses, with a floor height of 850-900 mm, were also
included, the other technical specifications by the urban development
ministry meant even those couldn’t be delivered fast. Most of the additional
features are standard features in ultra low-floor buses such as audio and
video cameras, vehicle tracking system and integrated common controls. From
Rs 20 lakh a bus, standard buses that meet these tech specs cost over Rs 30
lakh while low-floor buses cost between Rs 45 lakh and Rs 60 lakh.

“The buses being ordered by the states are of all types, low-floor, semi
low-floor and conventional. Within the broad categories, each state and very
often cities within states have their unique specifications,”a Tata Motors
spokesperson told FE.

“Tata Motors has requisite capacity and the company, in any case, is acting
with alacrity to deliver the buses,” the spokesperson added.

According to the latest data, over 11,000 buses have been ordered with
various manufacturers under the JNNURM—over 7,000 are standard buses, while
the rest are in the low-floor category. Of these, a mere 1,500 buses have
been delivered till October, with several hundred standard buses ready but
languishing due to confusion over specifications.

“We are ramping up production at Alwar by 50% from 200 units a month to 300
units a month as well as start manufacturing 200 buses a month at our luxury
buses facility near Tiruchirapalli to cater to the demand from southern
states,” Rajiv Saharia, executive director (marketing), Ashok Leyland, said.


While major players are scurrying to scale up low-floor capacities,
passenger carriers’ sales continue to see negative growth. According to
Siam, sales of medium and heavy passenger carriers declined by 13.1% at
3,424 units in September 2009 against 3,938 units sold in last September.
Sales of light passenger carriers or mini-buses also declined marginally at
2,360 units vis-à-vis 2,384 units in September last year.
On behalf of the industry, Siam has asked the ministry to further extend the
delivery period, in the light of a varying range of specifications to be
met.


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