Scania India to up capacity

The company expects to invest around Rs 150 cr in expansion

Bus and truck manufacturer Scania Commercial Vehicles India Pvt Ltd is planning to double the capacity at its Karnataka facility. The company, which targets the premium market segment, expects to invest around Rs 150 crore in expansion. The exercise allows the plant to manufacture 5,000 trucks and 2,500 buses. The proposed expansion will be in phases till 2017.

"We have invested around Rs 300 crore in the plant till date. Considering that we have land for the proposed expansion, the investment required is only half of what we invested till now," said Andres Grundstromer, managing director of Scania CV India.

Scania plans to gradually raise its workforce from the current 369 to 600 in September and 800 in the first quarter of 2015.

Grundstromer was here recently to hand over the keys of the company's Metrolink buses to tour and travel company Parveen Travel.

The company entered India in 2010 and started a truck manufacturing facility last year in Bengaluru. While it currently sources buses made in Malaysia to India, a facility for them in India is expected to go on stream in August this year.

With respect to industrial demand, "Mining and coal sector demand is now showing uptick. From September, things would improve from these two applications," said Grundstromer.

For implementing the European Union standard Truck, Trailer and Bus Code in India, Grundstromer said they were in consultations with the transport and mining ministries. The company targets to sell around 150 buses and 500 trucks in the country by the end of this year. So far, it has sold around 35 buses. Around 80 of the 150 buses targeted this year would be manufactured in India.

He said the company was testing ethanol-powered buses for city transport.