Automotive Research Association of India to study King Long bus fleet in Mumbai

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has appointed the Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to carry out a detailed study of King Long buses.

After a spate of mishaps and malfunctions, the MSRTC had earlier asked the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Powai, to conduct a detailed inquiry. However, the engineers there are already busy working on new designs of MSRTC buses and have told the corporation that conducting the inquiry will delay the process further.

Confirming the development, Deepak Kapoor, MSRTC vice-chairman and managing director, said a letter was sent to ARAI.

“The IIT experts are already busy redesigning a model for our buses. They told us that this additional responsibility may delay the inquiry and hence we decided to conduct the inquiry taking the assistance from ARAI,” Kapoor told DNA.

The inquiry was initiated after the corporation received a series of complaints about the King Long buses. Also, a bus caught fire while on its way from Pune to Thane.