Recently we wrote about how China could well become the bus manufacturing hub of the world. There are more than 50 established bus manufacturers catering to both the domestic and export market. In sharp contrast, India’s bus industry is still a long way to go. We just have a handful of bus body builders spread across the country catering to most of the domestic requirement.
As in the other industries, India is catching up in bus business as well with the emergence of new bus manufacturers who aspire to become global players in the years to come. One such company is the Bangalore-based Veera Vahana Udyog Private Ltd., which has made tremendous progress in a very short period of time.
With 1,100 buses on road in a short span of three years since inception in 2004, Veera is clearly India’s fastest growing bus manufacturer. And it’s not stopping there. “By 2015, we want to be India’s leading manufacturer of buses”, says Mr. K. Srinivas Reddy, Managing Director of the company.
Veera was founded in 2004 by a young team of professionals headed by Mr. Srinivas Reddy. His passion was to establish a modern manufacturing facility for building luxury buses. Accordingly, the company set up a state-of-the-art bus body building facility on the outskirts of Bangalore over an area of 8.5 acres.
Mr. Srinivas Reddy is a first generation entrepreneur. An engineer from REC, he has been a technocrat right from day one. After working on a few turnkey projects, including fabricating paint booths for auto majors, executing power projects and even implementing some IT projects, he decided to focus on his dream project of bus building.
“We established Veera Vahana Udyog towards the end of 2004, and by May 2005 the first bus rolled out of the production line”, says Mr. Reddy. Once the company started commercial production, there was no looking back. In the very first year Veera sold 206 buses, in the second year 311 buses and in the third year 434 buses. The company has established the facility to manufacture 1,000 buses and hopes to achieve this volume by 2009-10.
“Right from the first year there was no dearth of orders. Thanks to the efforts put up by all the members of the team in delivering a high quality buses. In the current year we are targeting to sell 600 buses”, says Mr. Srinivas. From the very beginning, he has nurtured a pioneering spirit, one that still drives innovation and exploration of new technologies. Veera today prides itself on manufacturing buses that deliver passenger safety, cutting-edge technology and a genuine focus on customer needs.
The company is dedicated to the highest quality bus manufacturing and believes in continuous improvement, setting new standards and pushing technology to new heights. Thorough attention to detail in the design stage and in the manufacturing process, Veera’s buses provide greater reliability and less vehicle down-time.
Veera currently manufacturers AC deluxe buses, non-AC deluxe buses, AC sleeper coaches, non-AC sleeper coaches, as well as AC mofussil and tarmac coaches. “We build according to specifications that confirm to customer requirements. We have standardised body frame works by building them off jig. We also have our own fibre glass front and fibre glass rear on all our buses”, adds Mr. Srinivas Reddy.
Veera is also one of the major players in the air-conditioned bus segment. The company has till date built over 250 air-conditioned buses. There is a growing demand for AC buses, and this year the company is targeting more such buses. In fact, KSRTC has now introduced Sheetal A/C Bus, similar to the Garib Rath introduced by Railways. These buses have a seating capacity of over 60 seats and are fitted with AC. The idea is to provide AC comfort to customers at a nominal cost. The response has been overwhelming, and KSRTC plans to add more such buses for the convenience of passengers.
Veera has managed to establish very strong relationship with its customers and in the last three years the company has been receiving repeat orders from most of its customers. Veera has over 100 customers as on date, including transport corporations like KSRTC, APSRTC and NWKRTC.
Infrastructure and production facility
Veera has set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for buses, fully equipped with all the necessary manufacturing processes right from day one. The factory has been set up on a 8.5 acres of land with the main floor built on an area of 68,000 sq. ft. This whole area is pillarless and can accommodate construction of 65 to 70 buses at any given time. The company has installed a Sophisticated & Ultra Modern Paint Booth in which Painting & painting preparation can be carried out for 10 vehicles at a time. For ferrous materials an anticorrosive treatment and hot phosphating plant has been installed. Veera has also set up a manufacturing facility for FRP Assemblies. The company has so far invested Rs. 16 crores on establishing this facility.
Veera is working on a new bus model which it plans to launch before the end of this year. The new product, Mr. Srinivas says, will be completely different from the existing product in terms of the exterior and interior. The company is also trying to use new material and there will be vast difference in the quality and design of the product.
In the next phase, Veera is planning to establish its second manufacturing facility where it plans to get into mass production of buses, particularly for the city bus segment. Mr. Srinivas Reddy feels that the city bus market will witness exponential growth as most of transport corporations are replenishing their fleet.
“Today a high-end city bus costs Rs. 80 lakhs, and if we can provide a good city bus with comparable features at half the price, then most of the transport corporations will look at even replacing the entire fleet. We would like to position ourselves as a premium bus manufacturer. Even if we get into the mass segment we will still continue to operate in the premium segment. We are also planning to get into the Integral coach business by launching our own Veera range of buses”, adds Mr. Srinivas.
Intergral coaches is another very big opportunity which Veera is looking to capitalise on. As more and more private bus operators and even transport corporations are looking at fully built solutions, the market for integral coaches will witness exponential growth in the coming years. The company is already working on its Integral coach business and hopes to roll out the first bus by 2010.
Veera is also looking at tie-up with European bus manufacturers. When Volvo launched its buses in India, it had a tie-up with Jaico for building bus bodies. Mercedes has tied up wi
th Sutlej for building its buses. Marcopolo has a JV with Tata Motors, and Scania has also announced its intention to enter the Indian bus market.
Veera is actively looking for an opportunity to have a tie-up with a global bus manufacturer. Discussion is on with a few manufacturers, and a final decision will be taken in the next few months. Veera is also looking at the opportunity of exporting its buses.
Once the bus business is established, the company is planning to look at the opportunity for manufacturing tippers and special-purpose vehicles. This will again be a major growth area, according to Mr. Srinivas.
Veera has managed to do what many other manufacturers take decades to achieve. The success of the company is mainly due to untiring efforts of Mr. Srinivas Reddy and his dedicated team of professionals. Veera today employs over 450 people. Given the kind of growth the company has achieved in the first few years, Veera is well on its way to become a leader in the bus manufacturing industry.
