The Chief Minister of Telangana Chandrasekhar Rao inaugurated Deccan Auto's first integrated bus manufacturing plant at Kodakachani Village in Medak District last month (July 2015). Located about 40 km away from Hyderabad, the facility has a capacity to manufacture 3,000 units per year. (Besides the Deccan brand of buses, the Corona brand buses will also be manufactured at this plant.
Corona is a Pune-based company in which Prasad has a majority stake.) Prasad has invested more than Rs250 crore in the Hyderabad facility. Being a native of the region, he felt it appropriate to start off here. "I am a graduate from the Warangal REC - (Now National Institute of Technology). What better than having our Indian flagship start from here," he explains, without denying the emotional angle.
Initially, Deccan will employ about 600 people and in the next few years it will move to about 1000. "We have also taken up the cause to support the nearby areas and are engaged in training the people at the entry level. Our experience has shown that manpower is not a major issue in this region," Prasad adds.
Deccan Auto's Hyderabad plant will be producing buses based on two designs: the integral chassis design (like the Volvo buses) and the Monocoque Design - the only offer in the Indian market today. "Our buses are with a rear engine and space frame based design which will give the best of ride comfort.
The Corona brand of Buses will have independent suspension in the front just as you have in a car. The buses are available from 8m to 18m in length. It is the largest offer in the rear engine segment," Prasad shares. Importantly, customers have been identified and Corona already has an order book of 320 buses from Amritsar, Chandigarh, Goa and Karnataka. The Deccan brand of buses will be also seen on road from November 2015.
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Deccan Auto's manufacturing facility Located in 75 acres area, the plant has come up in 18 acres with a covered area of two lakh sq feet. It has modern testing facilities and paint booth that can handle more than 3000 buses annually. The manufacturing unit is accredited by ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) and conforms to the New Bus Code. Leakage testing facility, modern painting booths with ovens, Bus Transfer platform, 100 percent power back up, jigs and fixtures with hydraulic/pneumatic controls, ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant), Diesel filling station, Weigh Bridge, four lakh litre water storage capacity among others. |
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