State transport firms boost bus sales

The Mint newspaper reports that over the past three months, India´s top three bus makers, Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors and VE Commercial Vehicles, have received orders for supplying 10,600 total units from various state transport undertakings. Bus makers in India have their order books full as efforts to boost road transport by some state governments and a switch to stricter emission norms in April, are prompting state transport undertakings (STUs) to replace their ageing fleets, said officials at bus makers and STUs, say the report. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Delhi cumulatively spent Rs.247 crore in 2015-16, up 31 per cent from a year earlier, to boost road transport. They are likely to spend `287 crore in 2016-17, according to data from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. JNNURM offers financial incentives to state governments to replace old buses, according to the news item.