In what is a major boost to its business, Ashok Leyland, the largest supplier of buses to state transport corporations, has received orders for around 4,000 buses from State Transport Undertakings (STUs), under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission – II scheme. The manufacturer will provide a mix of JanBus, midi-buses and Ultra Low Entry (ULE) buses as a part of the 4,000 buses ordered under JNNURM-II. The supply of these buses has started and many of them are already carrying passengers.

A total of 22 STUs across the country including Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC), Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), Jaipur City Transport Services Ltd. (JCTSL), and Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) have placed large orders with the company.

According to Vinod K Dasari, managing director, Ashok Leyland, “With rapid urbanisation and increasing agglomeration in Indian cities, it is important to modernise public transportation systems and offer technologically advanced and empathetically designed transport solutions. JanBus, the world’s first front-engine, single-step entry, full-flat floor bus, is a vehicle specifically designed for urban transport. It provides several patented features that maximise passenger safety and substantially enhanced operating economics for the STUs. The JanBus, which has received a tremendous response from STUs, will contribute over 2,000 buses to JNNURM-II. We have also received orders from the international market for the bus and soon JanBus will be running in many countries.”

Similarly, the 8-metre ‘JanBus Midi’ (pictured below), with a uniform floor height of 650mm, is specially designed for feeder services, offering last-mile connectivity from metro stations and BRT corridors to the final destinations. Metro feeder operations require quick boarding and alighting for which the bus is equipped with wide doors and a single-step entry.