Swedish truck and bus maker Scania expects to double its capacity and invest up to ₹200 crore in its Indian operations in a couple of years.

Anders Grundstromer, the company’s managing director for India, told BusinessLine that during the current year, Scania expects to grow 30 per cent in revenues. During the previous year, Scania posted revenues of ₹600 crore. “We are close to breaking even this year. We expect to sell 900 more trucks and 300 buses during the calendar year,” he said. He said once the capacity is expanded, the company expects to employ about 1,500 people from the current level of 800.

The Swedish major has sold 1,500 trucks in India since 2007. It entered India through a partnership with L&T, and in 2011 set up its own operations here. In 2014, Scania set up a major plant at Narsapur near Bangalore, with a capacity to manufacture 2,500 trucks and 1,000 buses per year. It has invested about ₹350 crore so far in the plant. The indigenisation level for trucks is about 40 per cent, and for buses it is about 80 per cent. The company is also planning to export trucks from its Indian plant to South Africa, as well as South East Asian and Middle East countries.

It recently won a tender to supply 35 buses to Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, its first for a state run undertaking, though it has already sold about 100 buses to private operators. “We manufacture perhaps the safest buses in India, and the models are the ones which will be introduced in 2017 in Europe,” Grundstromer said.

He also pointed out that each of the seats in the buses is provided with a seat belt, and the underbody has fire detection, as well as fire protection devices, though they are optional. The buses and trucks can also run on bio-fuel. Scania is also the first company to introduce a 580 HP truck in India compared with 440 HP trucks made by competitors. He said that once the company is able to get enough volumes, it will study the possibility of setting up of an engine plant in India.

Grundstromer said the company is looking forward to the introduction of GST which will boost its growth in the country. “As of now, the rules are too many and too complex to navigate,” he said.

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