Ashok Leyland bags order worth Rs 321 cr for supply of buses in Tamil Nadu

Hinduja Group flagship firm Ashok Leyland today said it has won an order worth Rs 321 crore for supply of 2,100 buses from The Institute of Road Transport (IRT) in Tamil Nadu.

In a BSE filing, Ashok Leyland said, "it bagged an order from IRT, Tamil Nadu, for supply of 2,000 passenger chassis and 100 of fully built small buses to various state transport undertakings (STUs) in Tamil Nadu. The order size is Rs 321 crore".Ashok Leyland said this order is scheduled to be supplied in the first half of next fiscal.

Shares of the company were trading up by 1.54 per cent higher at Rs 148.10 on the BSE. 

Meanwhile, Ashok Leyland has recorded a 29 per cent increase in its total sales at 18,181 units in February 2018.

The company had sold 14,067 units during the same month previous year, Ashok Leyland said in a statement.

Sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles during the month rose 21 per cent to 13,726 units as against 11,329 units in a year-ago month.

Light commercial vehicles sales surged 63 per cent to 4,455 units in February compared to 2,738 unit in the corresponding month last year.

Earlier, it was reported that Ashok Leyland, which controls around 38% market share in the bus segment, plans to commercially roll out battery-swappable buses in next three-six months.

The company officials said that the swappable batteries are much lighter in weight in comparison to conventional batteries and can be swapped within five minutes, thereby equaling the average time taken to refuel diesel in a city bus.

Hence, it addresses issues of convenience and quick recharging options that have long been stumbling blocks for acceptance and viability of electric vehicles (EVs) for public transportation, the company added.

Talking at the AutoExpo2018 event which is being held in Greater Noida, Vinod K Dasari, managing director, Ashok Leyland, said that the Circuit-S, India's first swap-battery bus, is designed for seating capacity ranging from 25-35 seats. It works on the pay-per-use model of battery consumption.

"We certainly see this technology solution as biggest enabler for our State Transport Undertakings (STU) and the biggest contributor to our nation's mobility vision of becoming 100% electric." Dasari further added that some of the STUs are planning to come up with tenders for the EV buses and his company is ready to participate in all such bids.