This refers to Sunita Narain’s article, ‘Buses and Barack Obama’ (November 7, 2008). Narain says: a) that we do not have the capacity to manufacture buses; b) that when cities place order for ‘urban buses’, we do not participate in the tender; c) that Delhi is yet to get the buses it ordered from us; d) who will make the buses for Delhi which it still needs?; and that e) we do not push vehicles that could drive millions in the country.
Please allow us to debunk these inferences, one by one:
Public transportation, through fully-built buses and passenger carriers for intra-city, inter-city and semi-urban areas for all modes — budget, comfort and luxury travel — is a focus area for us
In March 2005, we launched branded (Starbus and Globus) fully-built buses, including low-floor and semi low-floor ones. Besides New Delhi and Mumbai, our fully-built buses have been sold to transport authorities, through tenders, in Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Bilaspur, Raipur, Jaipur, Kota, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Guwahati etc.
For the DTC, we received an order of 650 buses in April 2007. We began to deliver the buses according to the schedule starting in November 2007. A total of 642 buses have already been delivered; the last 8 will be delivered by November 15, three weeks ahead of the deadline. The buses have become so popular that the DTC issued a fresh tender, to be supplied by us and another company.
Looking at the need and requirement of explosive growth in public transportation, Tata Motors today offers a whole range of options, from 7-seater passenger carriers to large buses for intra-city, inter-city and rural transportation.
More From This Section
That is why we formed Tata Marcopolo Motors Ltd in 2006. The plant has come up in Dharwad, with a capacity to produce 30,000 buses to be achieved in phases. This facility is in addition to our Lucknow facility and our associate company to manufacture buses, ACGL.
That is why in June 2007, we launched the Magic, built on the platform of the Ace. It is generating strong response in every state. Our Pantnagar plant has a capacity of 250,000 vehicles per annum.
Narain says that India needs change in public transportation. Your readers should be aware that change is already taking place.
Debasis Ray,
Head – Corporate Communications Tata Motors, Mumbai