Rs 1-crore JBM Auto buses likely to roll out in July

JBM Auto's premium buses, which are ready for roll out in July, would be priced around Rs 1 crore, according to industry sources. This makes the cost of the buses on par with those of multi-national companies such as Volvo and Scania.

"Though we cannot divulge the price of the bus now, we have maintained that our competition is with MNC manufacturers in the bus segment," says Nishant Arya, executive director, JBM Auto.

While buses from Volvo and Scania are priced around Rs 1 crore, buses manufactured by local companies are available upwards of Rs 10-12 lakh.

Arya says JBM Auto's buses would command premium prices compared to those of local players as these buses have very special features.

"No domestic companies in India manufacture true low-floor buses. The low-floor buses that you see in Delhi are actually low entry buses, they have steps, but our buses have no steps. Most local manufacturers use drum brakes, but we use disk brakes in all the four tyres. Our buses have raisin roofs and not metal roofs, so it does not get as hot in summers as metal roof buses. It is a completely European product that we are manufacturing in India," he says.

JBM Auto is rolling out the buses from its Koshi and Faridabad plants. Together the two plants have a capacity of 2,000 buses a year. "We received orders of 200 buses in March this year, and we expect to reach an order pipeline of 500 buses this year," says Arya.

The orders have come from State Transport Undertakings, schools and airports.

JBM Auto had tied-up with Italian bus manufacture Breda Menirinibus (BMB) for designs. The bus has been developed on the monocoque body concept. In monocoque vehicles, the chassis is an integral part of the body.

"The tie-up was mainly for domain expertise; the complete engineering design was done by our team. We have a global R&D set up - JBM Tesco - which we acquired three years ago. It is a 48-year-old company with expertise on commercial vehicle design. It works for many international companies. It has 350 engineers from countries like US, UK, Italy, China and India," says Arya.

The buses would be localised up to 90 per cent, claims Arya. The engines of the buses would be procured from Cummins India.

The company has invested Rs 500 crore in the bus project, and it is expecting around Rs 1,800 crore in revenue from buses in four years. JBM Auto's consolidated revenue in the financial year ending March 2014/15 was Rs 1,550 crore.