Volvo To Establish Bus Body Manufacturing Plant In Bangalore

Mumbai: Volvo India Bus Technologies Ltd, a 70:30 joint venture between Volvo India and JAICO (bus body manufacturers) will set up a bus body manufacturing plant in Hoskote, Bangalore. The subsidiary will infuse Rs 50 crore in the new plant, which will have an annual production capacity of 1,000 buses on a double-shift basis. The plant will build complete buses for the local as well as the export markets. The company has been exporting to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and plans to export to neighbouring countries in West Asia and Africa. In the domestic market, the company sold 400 units in 2006 and has a sales target of 600 units this year. With an ex-showroom, Mumbai price of Rs 64 lakh, it is the first model in the heavy commercial vehicle segment that has the CRDi diesel engine technology. The new model (third-generation) is Euro-III compliant (emission norms) that churns out 290HP (horsepower).