VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) has conducted the ground-breaking ceremony of the upcoming Eicher bus manufacturing plant at Dhar, near Indore, in Madhya Pradesh. The plant, being built at a cost of Rs 125 crore, is expected to begin operations by Q2 of 2013. The plant’s capacity will be 100,000 buses when fully operational.
Siddhartha Lal, managing director, VECV, said: “India’s bus market is likely to cross 100,000 units by 2015 and demand for more contemporary, comfortable buses is on the rise. With this plant, VECV plans to manufacture a new range of buses which would be contemporary on technology, aesthetics and finish for both local and exports markets.”
The multi-model bus manufacturing plant will manufacture light, medium and heavy duty buses including rear-engined semi-low floor buses catering to the school, staff, city and inter-city segments. The plant will use robotic processes for bus painting and will be highly mechanised to ensure high quality consistency and productivity. According to Vinod Aggarwal, CEO, VECV, “Eicher has continued to garner impressive numbers in the bus market. The year 2011 saw us improve our market share from seven to 10 percent and also gain significant entry into State transport undertaking segments.”
Eicher claims it has been a pioneer in driving innovation in the Indian bus segment and was instrumental in producing the ‘The First Safe School Bus’ in India. The bus was developed in association with IRTE (Institute of Road Traffic Education) in 1996. The company sold 48,337 buses and trucks in
calendar 2011.