Sanjeev Babbar.
Credit: Special Arrangement
In the post-pandemic world, road transport in India is picking up at a significantly fast pace, with the bus market set for a substantial boom. Against this backdrop, Sanjeev Babbar, Director, JCBL Ltd, which makes school buses for leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) including SML Isuzu, Ashok Leyland and Volvo-Eicher, spoke to DH’s Lavpreet Kaur on his company’s plans and future of the mobility industry.
Edited excerpts.
In the 30 years that you’ve been around how has the mobility business changed?
JCBL was formed to do contract manufacturing business for Swaraj Mazda Limited (SML). We started the company doing bus bodies as well as cargo boxes, with a volume of around 30-35 buses. Today, with almost 3000 buses per annum, we have a market share of 5-7 per cent in this category of school bus manufacturing.
Overall the industry is coming back to the pre-Covid levels and is expected to reach 70,000-80,000 buses and 200,000 cargo vehicles by the close of this fiscal. Moreover, with zero emission targets, alternative technologies are being developed. We are fast-tracking to move from fossil fuel vehicles to a portfolio of electric and alternative fuel vehicles.
In your portfolio, which is your most popular product and who are your main customers?
Almost 80 per cent of the buses we produce are for OEMs including Ashok Leyland, Volvo-Eicher with a combination of school buses, staff applications and city buses. The school bus segment makes up 70-80 per cent (volumes) of our portfolio and the other 20-30 per cent includes special application buses, sleeper buses etc. We are also venturing into intercity sleeper coaches - where we have seen a huge demand post-Covid.
We also have another facility in Chennai that largely deals in goods carriers in terms of tippers, trailers and petroleum tankers. Here our major OEMs are BharatBenz and Ashok Leyland. In terms of revenue, both segments contribute 50 per cent each.
As EVs catch on, how do you see the associated challenges in conversion?
When you do a transition, you always have some challenges associated. The transition was fairly easy for two-wheelers with penetration levels today ranging between 55-60 per cent, it was not the same case for commercial vehicles (CVs).
While the demand is huge, the challenge remains on the supply side, owing to our dependence on other countries like China and Thailand for semiconductors, batteries and battery management systems (BMS). Although the order book is large, so far total orders for electric CVs placed with OEMs are between 7,000-10,000, vehicles actually present on the road are around 300-400. The second issue is the lack of available charging infrastructure. The third major challenge is the cost of such vehicles. While government schemes like FAME support the sector, the initial investment for the OEMs is a huge roadblock. With all the right initiatives being taken by the government, my sense is that a few years down the line, we should be in a position to cater to 70-80 per cent of the demand.
We already have two big orders from OEMs for 500-1000 buses.
How do you see hydrogen-powered buses and commercial vehicles faring?
Hydrogen fuel cells are a very lucrative concept. However, in the long term what is actually going to work is hydrogen-internal combustion engine (ICE), which is ultimately going to be responsible for 60-70 per cent of conversion from fossil fuels to alternative fuels. As of today, the availability of hydrogen is an issue, but the technology is here. In 2–3 years we will see penetration of hydrogen as a fuel for heavy haulage vehicles or premium vehicles for long distances.
How is your company faring on revenue and what are your expectations from FY24?
This fiscal, from both our north (passenger application) and south facility (goods carriers), we should be able to collect a turnover of Rs 400 crores, with the passenger vehicles business alone pegged at Rs 200 crores., as it is making a strong comeback after the drop it saw during the pandemic. We are looking at a market share of 8-10 per cent in the 5-12 tonne category of buses by next year. This will be through supply to OEMs as a white label and also aftermarket requirement under the JCBL Happy bus brand. We will also double our capacity addressing the surge in demand from OEMs and the after-market premium school bus requirements. In the goods segment viz tippers/ petroleum tankers and trailers we are going to produce around 7,000 applications this fiscal, for our OEMs and customers.