'Our Upcoming Hyderabad Facility Can Roll Out 350-400 Electric Buses In One Year'

Hyderabad-based Goldstone Infratech on Thursday (10 August) said that it is all set to open a new facility for electric buses in Hyderabad which will have a capacity to roll out 350-400 electric buses in one year.  

At present, the company has a facility in Bengaluru which has made 35 buses so far and in full optimization can make up to 200 buses in one year.

“Electric bus revolution has just started in India and in future, we expect electric buses will have 20 per cent of the market share in overall bus category,” Anand Swaroop, group chief operating officer, Goldstone said.

The company has tied up with Chinese electric bus major BYD, the largest manufacturer and supplier of pure electric buses in the world for technical support and know-how.

The company recently bagged an order to supply 25 electric buses to Himachal Road Transport Corporation. Last year it has bagged similar order to deliver six electric buses to the Brihan Mumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, Mumbai.

The company plans to make 200-300 buses per year, which will take its turnover from bus division to around Rs 500 crore.

Swaroop said that they are conducting trials in many cities and soon Goldstone branded bus will be seen in other states.  “We are expecting orders for our busses from many states. We have received very good reviews for our bus recently when we conducted trials in Chandigarh,” Swaroop said.

The company makes busses under two labels- K7 and K9. It claims that its K9 series bus can cover a distance of up to 300 km on a single charge of 5 hours. However, the company will face competition from market leader Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland as both the companies are also eyeing the growing segment.

As per the India's Society of Manufacturers of Electrical Vehicles, EVs constitute less than 1 per cent of the total vehicle sales in India but has potential to grow over 5 per cent in a few years. Lack of infrastructure support, adaptability and high initial cost are the challenges faced by the sector.