Gobind Coach Builders: Pioneers Who Have Kept Up With The Times

Karmjeet Singh, Managing Director, Gobind Coach Builders, in this interview with Shivam Gautam, opens up about how technology and constant innovation have helped the company to keep pace with the changing times as well as the disrupting dynamics of the bus industry in India

- Shivam Gautam

When I first stepped into the factory of Gobind Coach Builders, I was mesmerised not only by its sheer size but also by the professionalism that greeted me. I had been in the small town of Bhadaur for the last two days and had visited quite a few bus bodybuilders, but the very first impression of Gobind Coach Builders assured me that there was something special about the company. And as I found out later, I was right. For the uninitiated, Bhadaur is a small city in the Barnala district of Punjab. What makes Bhadaur stand out on the map of the State is its impressive bus bodybuilding tradition. With about 30 bus body builders dotting the sylvan suburbs, the otherwise nondescript city is home to some of the best bus bodybuilders in India.

“Bhadaur has a rich heritage of bus bodybuilding,” states Karmjeet Singh, Managing Director, Gobind Coach Builders, as he walks me to his office. “Back in the 1980s we were fleet operators. Since there were no builders around at that time, we were compelled to build the body of one of our own buses once. It was in the year 1987, and the whole process was a big success. Soon, other bus operators started coming to us with orders. Honestly, that’s how the whole bus body building industry of Bhadaur took shape,” he adds. Today, armed with ARAI accreditation, ISO certificate and AIS 052 approval for bus bodies, Gobind Coach Builders has made its mark in the Indian bus bodybuilding industry with its range of luxury buses, STU buses, school and college buses, and special purpose vehicles.

Technology as the backbone