Changing World Of Buses

The Indian bus industry is looking up; is changing inline with the profile of travellers and the development of road infrastructure.

- Bhushan Mhapralkar

The statistics released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers for the 2015-16 financial year revealed that 43,885 passenger vehicles in the Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicle (M&HCV) category were sold, clocking a growth of 19.13 per cent. In the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) category, 48,960 passenger carriers were sold during the same period, marking a growth of 9.25 per cent. M&HCV and LCV passenger carriers are actually buses (and bus chassis), which make one of the vital integral segments of the Indian automobile industry. They make a common widespread public transport in India, and are categorised into school buses, mini buses, tourist buses, deluxe buses, commuter buses and others depending on their use. The bus market in India, according to a report by Research and Markets is expected to be worth USD 10.34 billion by 2019-20 financial year. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.36 per cent by 2020, driven by an increasing demand for luxury and value.

The development of infrastructure and roads has made it easier for people to avail buses as a preferred mode of travel. Demand for buses is on the rise, and across segments. New segments like sleeper coaches are witnessing rapid growth even as the government authorities work to draft rules to legally define such a development. P S Ananda Rao, Executive Director, ASRTU, is known to have expressed that over one million buses are immediately needed in addition to 7.5 lakh buses present. In his speech at Bus world 2015, Rao expressed that 1.5 lakh buses move 1.583 million people. “The need is to reduce congestion, pollution and accidents by Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system and high capacity buses. Over the costlier option of Metro and Mono-rail, it is the bus that can connect villages which are currently unconnected. To address the potential for rural connectivity through JNNURM, there is a need for 50,854 buses at 600 buses per 10 million rural population,” he added.