A month in the India Transport Sector (No 28)

September, 2013

CARMAKERS STRATEGY
MORE INTERNATIONAL AUTO COMPANIES APPOINTING INDIANS TO TOP POSTS The trend of hiring staff locally is seen in global automobile companies venturing into India. Fiat and Chrysler are managed in India by Nagesh Basavanhalli. Fiat is following in the footsteps of Ford India, which took the decision to replace Michael Boneham, an Australian, with Joginder Singh. Other automobile companies have followed suit in the hope of taking advantage of the expected upswing in the markets. More information on ITP RENAULTS PLANS FOR INDIA The success of the Renault Duster on Indian roads has given a boost to Renault India, a company which struggled to find a foothold on Indian markets when it first arrived. In 2007 Renault entered into a partnership with the Indian carmaker Mahindra and Mahindra. The partnership broke two years later, having launched three cars, the Koleos, the Fluence, and the Pulse, none of which made a substantial impact. More information on ITP FORD: INDIA BEING THEIR ASIA PACIFIC HUB This American auto manufacturer has already established two plants in India, and regards the country as its potential hub for the Asia Pacific region. The Indian automobile market gives a fairly good idea of the kind of vehicles which would be well received globally. More information on ITP GENERAL MOTORS VIEWS NORTH-EAST INDIA AS NEXT POTENTIAL MARKET Long isolated, the region is now emerging as a bright spot in an otherwise struggling sector. While overall, the auto sector is experiencing a drop of over 12%, sales in the North East have grown by 4% and are expected to grow further. More information on ITP

EDITORIAL In September 2012, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the operator of the e-way, Delhi Gurgaon Super Connectivity Limited (DGSCL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the Delhi High Court. In March 2013, this issue was still ongoing: the Punjab and Haryana High Court had asked NHAI officials to appear before court on May because of measures taken in order to ease the e-way and toll plaza traffic. Meanwhile, NHAI had issued a termination letter to DGSCL for its failure to upgrade facilities and renovate roads. One year after the MoU being signed, the Road Transport and Highways Ministry asked the National Highways Authority of Indian to file a First Information Report (FIR) against DGSCL. This move came after the NHAI found underreporting of traffic at the toll plazza that caused the agency a Rs 20 crore loss, between August 2012 and July 2013. Details have been forwarded to the Central Vigilance Commission to consider the opportunity to hand over the case over the Central Bureau of Investigation. At this time, the contentious is going through the legal process instead of involving the government. But DGSCL has refuted the KPMG study that lead to such issue. Well, it seems that this issue still have several tremendous

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A month in the India Transport Sector (No 28)

September, 2013 BUSES

AN IN-HOUSE ALGORITHM CALCULATES THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OF BUSES, BASED ON GPS LOCATION AND CURRENT TRAFFIC ON ROAD MANICA AGGARWAL, DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER- DATA ANALYTICS AT DIMTS Manica Aggarwal is Deputy General Manager- Data Analytics, at Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit Company Limited. She has more than 15 years of experience in Market Research, Data Analytics across various Industry verticals. More information in ITP NEW BUSES ON THE ROAD Haryana aims to enhance its public transport by increasing its fleet to 350 buses by the end of the year. It is proposed that at least ten of these buses will be lowfloored luxury buses. They will be either Mercedes Benz or Volvo, and will cost INR 10 crore (approx. 2 million USD). The Haryana government is also purchasing 50 air-conditioned buses which run on the environmentallyviable compressed natural gas (CNG). These buses will be of the Marcopolo brand of Tata motors, and will cost INR 32 crores (approx. 6 million USD). Ten of these will join the fleet in July and ten more are expected to be on the roads by August. The inclusion of luxury buses will be accompanied by the construction of new bus stops, with one air conditioned bus stop planned for sector 29 of Gurgaon. More information on ITP

CAR MARKET
CARS IMPORTED FROM THE EU TO BECOME CHEAPER It may be dark days ahead for Indian vehicle manufacturers following the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union allowing the latter to export lower-price cars to the Indian market. More information on ITP LUXURY CARS THRIVING AMID INDIAS SLUMPING CAR MARKET Surprisingly, in spite of the downturn in the industry, the luxury car sector, which constitutes only 1% of the sales, is showing an upswing. More information on ITP INDIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES QUADRICYCLES These four-door low-speed vehicles weigh just 450 kilograms, provide a mileage of 35 km/litre, and are priced at 1.5 lakhs (approx. 2,500 USD). More information on ITP NISSAN INDIA: MORE THAN 22,000 SUNNY AND MICRA CAR MODELS RECALLED The defect is understood to be due to a potential flaw in the master brake cylinder. In India, these models are produced at the Oragadam plant in Chennai. More information on ITP MERCEDES-BENZ A-CLASS CONFIRMS RECEIVING MORE THAN 400 ORDERS The company showed sales growth of 5.3% in the first quarter of 2013. We are satisfied with the company performance in this quarter given the overall strain in the Indian economy said Eberhard Kern, managing director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India. More information on ITP CHEVROLET: TO INCREASE PRICES ACROSS THE BOARD P. Baledran, Vice President of General Motors India recently declared, "We have decided to increase the prices of all our vehicles up to Rs.10,000 (approx. 165 USD) depending upon the model. More information on ITP

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A month in the India Transport Sector (No 28)

September, 2013 ROAD CONSTRUCTION

INDIA ROAD PROJECT IN BURMA: OPPORTUNITIES AND CONCERNS INCREASE In the modern world, it is not possible for a country to grow or progress in isolation. Development is helped when a country is at peace with its neighbours and has a symbiotic relationship with them. India is currently involved in continuing efforts to further the cause of peace and stability in the Indian region and establishing trade relations and peace treaties with bordering nations. The Look East Policy adopted by the government is an attempt to forge links with SouthEast Asia. As part of this policy, India has invested $214 million in a highway project in Burma. Named the Kaladan Project, most of the roads will be laid in Burmese territory, linking the Indian state of Mizoram with the poorly connected western states of Burma through the Chin state, ending at a deep sea port at Rakhine. More information on ITP

RAILWAYS
INDIAN RAILWAYS: PRIVATE PLAYERS BROUGHT ON BOARD TO INCREASE ITS SCOPE Since manufacturers incur extra cost to transport their products, they prefer to use road transport. To address this issue, the railway government plans to introduce PPPs in the sector, whereby a company may build and own private railway lines, and run government trains on them. More information on ITP NORTH EAST RAILWAY PROJECTS TO BE DELAYED BY A YEAR DUE TO INSUFFICIENT FUNDS The north-eastern states of India, which are the responsibility of the Northeast Frontier Railway have a long way to go before they acquire a sufficient amount of network. At present only Guwahati and Agartala, two of the seven state capitals in the Northeast are connected by railways. More information on ITP INDIAN RAILWAYS TO INCREASE ELECTRICITY-BASED POWER USE BY 25% Indian Railways has made the decision to focus on switching over from petrolium-based energy to electric traction. This form of energy affords advantages such as being able to transport heavy loads at better speeds. More information on ITP BANGALORE SEES DELAYS IN ITS LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT SYSTEM In the Indias Silicon Valley, Bangalore, the State government cant seem to decide whether to opt for light rail transit (LRT) or monorail. Capital Symonds Ltd and Consulting Engineering have been called in as the consultant to decide on the feasibility of the two choices. More information on ITP RAILWAYS: TO EXPERIMENT WITH SMS TICKETING SYSTEM The latest idea is to use the widespread mobile network for buying tickets. Making use of Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS), a passenger may buy a ticket from a basic mobile phone, using an SMS. More information on ITP

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A month in the India Transport Sector (No 28)

September, 2013 ADVERTISE WITH US

TRUCK
MAHINDRA: TO BUYS OUT NAVISTARS STAKE Troy Clarke, President and Chief Operating Officer, Navistar, said, "Mahindra has been a valuable partner these last seven years and they are well equipped to move the MNAL and MNEPL businesses forward as the Indian market continues to develop." The joint venture did not fit in with their strategy aimed at building its core businesses in the North American continent their Drive to Deliver strategy. More information on ITP IRIGC: KAMAZ PRODUCTION CAPACITY TO BE STEPPED UP Kamaz's Indian base to step up productionRussian truck manufacturer, Kamaz entered into a joint venture with Tatra Vectra in 2009-10. Vectra holds a 49% stake and Kamaz owns the majority share of 51%. Czech Republic-based Tatra (previously Tatra Trucks India Ltd) and the Vectra group, based in the UK entered into a 90:10 joint venture to form Tatra Vectra Motors Ltd. More information on ITP TATA MOTORS: NEW COMMERCIAL VEHICLE DRIVING SCHOOL LAUNCHED IN SINGRAULI In a move to increase driving safety standards in India, Tata Motors has teamed up with Urjanchal School of driving to launch a joint initiative in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh. The initiative involves setting up a commercial vehicle or CV driving centre in Singrauli. The centre was inaugurated by the MP Chief Minister-Shivraj Singh Chauhan. Senior officials from Tata Motors were also present at the event. More information on ITP

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