Under-capacity: Bus plants operating at less than 3%
Govt’s decision to import hurting local industry, lament officials.
Plants have produced a mere 630 units of buses in the first three quarters of the current fiscal year against the total annual production ability of 26,150 units. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
The auto industry’s bus manufacturing units are operating at a record low level of less than 3 percent of their installed capacity.
As a result, plants have produced a mere 630 units of buses in the first three quarters of the current fiscal year against the total annual production ability of 26,150 units - the rambling import policy of the government is a major contributing factor to this.
According to the latest data of the Engineering Development Board, Hinopak Motors, which has an installed capacity of 5,950 units per year, produced only 372 buses of all ranges and ranked first in Pakistan as all other companies production is even lower. Gandhara Nissan could produce just six units of Nissan SP 210 Bus against a capacity of 4,200 while Gandhara Industries managed to produce 17 units of Isuzu NPR 66PB Bus and Isuzu MT133 Bus against ability of 3,000 units.
Auto industry experts are of the view that the Punjab government has launched the rapid bus service in the provincial capital along with initiating services in other cities, but unfortunately for the local industries, the authorities have imported all buses for those projects.
They said that all bus manufacturers of different models including Hino, Nissan, Isuzu, Master, Daewoo are producing high quality and state of the art buses but Punjab government preferred to import from China and Turkey.
“If the government orders local company to manufacture buses, it will provide jobs to at least 100 people directly,” they added.
“It’s unfortunate that country’s local demand of buses is about 6,000 per annum and if this requirement is fulfilled through local production, then hundreds of thousands of jobs will be created, balance of trade will be improved and the GDP ratio will be enhanced,” officials in the Engineering Development Board opined, requesting anonymity.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2014.
The auto industry’s bus manufacturing units are operating at a record low level of less than 3 percent of their installed capacity.
As a result, plants have produced a mere 630 units of buses in the first three quarters of the current fiscal year against the total annual production ability of 26,150 units - the rambling import policy of the government is a major contributing factor to this.
According to the latest data of the Engineering Development Board, Hinopak Motors, which has an installed capacity of 5,950 units per year, produced only 372 buses of all ranges and ranked first in Pakistan as all other companies production is even lower. Gandhara Nissan could produce just six units of Nissan SP 210 Bus against a capacity of 4,200 while Gandhara Industries managed to produce 17 units of Isuzu NPR 66PB Bus and Isuzu MT133 Bus against ability of 3,000 units.
Auto industry experts are of the view that the Punjab government has launched the rapid bus service in the provincial capital along with initiating services in other cities, but unfortunately for the local industries, the authorities have imported all buses for those projects.
They said that all bus manufacturers of different models including Hino, Nissan, Isuzu, Master, Daewoo are producing high quality and state of the art buses but Punjab government preferred to import from China and Turkey.
“If the government orders local company to manufacture buses, it will provide jobs to at least 100 people directly,” they added.
“It’s unfortunate that country’s local demand of buses is about 6,000 per annum and if this requirement is fulfilled through local production, then hundreds of thousands of jobs will be created, balance of trade will be improved and the GDP ratio will be enhanced,” officials in the Engineering Development Board opined, requesting anonymity.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2014.